


On the run

by BetterAPlumThanDumb



Category: Donkey Kong (Video Games), Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Action, All the koopas will be in it, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Awkwardness, Because Yoshi exists, Because lugi exists, Best Friends, Cute Kids, Daisy is a badass, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Family, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Gratuitous sass, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Luigi is an awkward good boy, Mario is a soft grump, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Peach and Mario hate each other until they don't, Read the notes for more info, Road Trips, Rosalina is a mom friend, Slow Burn, Toad is in love with Peach
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25291357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BetterAPlumThanDumb/pseuds/BetterAPlumThanDumb
Summary: “Saving people is kinda what we do, Blondie,” The shorter, red-clad boy dryly remarked, only half paying attention as he worked at the lock.“But why? And what makes you think we should trust you anymore than those weirdos?”The taller boy shot a somewhat lopsided grin their way.“Because we’re a whole lot less ugly, and a whole lot more smart,” He replied, and Daisy couldn’t quite disagree with that.-When kidnapped straight from their college apartment by mysterious Koopa Gang, Peach, Daisy and Rosalina are rightfully terrified. And when they are rescued by two equally mysterious boys by the names of Mario and Luigi, they are not sure how much safer to feel. Travelling cross country to evade capture by the Koopa’s again, the girls will have to come to know and trust the two brothers whether they like it or not – as they are currently their best chance for survival.
Relationships: Luigi & Mario (Nintendo), Luigi & Yoshi (Nintendo), Mario/Peach Toadstool, Princess Daisy/Luigi
Comments: 41
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, for clarification:  
> \- The enemies to friends to lovers tag isn't entirely serious ; it refers to Peach and Mario, who won't have quite as straightforward a relationship as in the games as Mario mistakenly dismisses Peach as a stereotypical blonde who won't cope well on the run.  
> \- Mario's characterisation is kind of different but a choice I made long ago. Frankly after watching the Mario cartoon in the morning when I was a kid, I always saw Mario as more of a grump with a good heart, somewhat gruff on the outside, while still being a hero. Is this wholly accurate to the games? Maybe not. Am I going to do it anyway? Sure. This is fanfiction after all. If you have any suggestions or complaints about it, I'd be happy to read them. All you need to know is that he isn't as big a dick as he may originally come off, and does care for the others really.  
> \- Luigi is pretty much canon, in that he is an awkward sweetheart who scares easier but can be brave to help others.  
> \- Yoshi and Toad are also main characters despite the tag placement ; they travel with Mario, Luigi and the girls.  
> \- Rosalina does get a vague love interest, it is just not as central to the story and for spoiler reasons I won't say who (But hint - it is not Waluigi!)  
> \- The princesses actually have a personality beyond just being damsels in distress, with Peach being girly but hardworking and generous, Daisy being sporty, stubborn and more tomboyish and Rosalina being a calming, relaxed presence that mediates the other two when they clash due to their drastic differences.  
> \- Characters and plot suggestions are more than welcome, I only have a vague outline of where I want the story to go. I'd say it will probably be around 20 or so chapters, but who knows.  
> \- I live in Britain. I go to University in Britain. I only barely understand the US college system. I chose to set this in the US  
> for ease of a longer travelling distance, without the need to create a whole new fictional world (I know, I know - lazy), but I will be taking some liberties with how the education system works in the first chapter and after that frankly it will rarely come up. If I use something grossly inaccurate or UnAmerican, tell me! I can try fix it.  
> \- Fluff and Angst? I'm a bitch for them, so you can bet there'll be plenty of that with lots of comfort.  
> \- I do love romantic bonds, but while they will be fairly present, I will also focus a lot on the friendship bonds and familial bonds between characters which are just as if not more fun to write.  
> \- Again, reviews and comments and suggestions are very welcome and appreciated to motivate me! 
> 
> Chapter 1 is admittedly not the most interesting one and is very much an introduction to the girls with a lot of exposition dump, but from chapter 2 onwards it will get more lively!

“It’s times like this, I really wish one of us had our licence.” 

The words dully stated by the dripping wet redhead broke the relative silence between the group of three girls, all trekking home with their hoods pulled tight over their head to combat the torrential downpour, arms wrapped around themselves in a vain attempt at maintaining some warmth. The speaker, blue eyes sparking with annoyance, looked around at the two blondes on either side of her. 

“I mean, seriously,” She continued, impatiently flipping soaked strands of hair away from her face, “How have we all reached eighteen, nineteen in Rosie’s case-“ She gestured vaguely over toward the taller girl on her right, “-Without gaining the ability to drive? Do you even realise how much time it would save? And how many disasters like this it would stop?” 

The other two girls, well used to her grumblings, exchanged vaguely amused glances behind her head, before the aforementioned ‘Rosie’ spoke up. 

“Technically,” She remarked, voice as calm as ever, “I can drive. Just not legally.”

“Which doesn’t help us much I guess, Rosalina,” The last girl remarked, shooting a wry grin with perfect white teeth and bordered with lipstick her way before turning back to the ginger, “If it bothers you so much, why don’t you learn to drive, Daisy?”

Daisy snorted, “Don’t pretend for one minute you’d trust me even if I did, Peach. Besides, I’m flat broke.”

She seemed rather unphased about this, switching her heavy bag, bulging from both school books and sports equipment, to her other shoulder, rolling the one that previously bore the weight. Her yellow hoodie, while well suited normally for the mild spring weather, was not doing a particularly good job at protecting her from the infamous April showers, soaked through to the skin on both her top half, and her green skinny jean clad bottom half. Her off-white running shoes squelched in the puddles scattered across the path, looking ragged and out of place next to Peach’s immaculate brown ankle boots and Rosalina’s neat black slip ons. Peach, goosebumps clear on her uncovered legs due to her fashion choice of a cute but comfortable mini skirt and knitted pink jumper, laughed in agreement. Her similarly pink raincoat was keeping her dry with more success than Daisy’s outfit, but it was Rosalina, as per usual, who was best off with warm white leggings and a casual blue dress as well as a sensible white raincoat. 

“Well at any rate,” Daisy mused at the lack of verbal response from her best friends, “I’ll be racing you guys for a stupid shower once we get home.”

“I call first dibs,” Peach said immediately, “I can’t feel my legs.”

“And you think we can?” Countered Rosalina wryly, amused smile playing about her lips. 

“You two have a barrier against the rain! My legs have nothing to cover them!”

“Yeah well, my barrier is chafing like hell and is gonna be a real pain to peel off,” Grumbled Daisy, grimacing as she pulled at the wet denim material which stuck to her legs. 

Rosalina sighed, not even bothering to try and put her name in the mix and silently resigning herself to showering last, but then perked up somewhat when their apartment complex came into view. 

“We’ll only be like five minutes more anyway, almost there,” She reassured her friends. She realised her mistake immediately, as Daisy’s eyes suddenly glinted, and Peach groaned. 

“Oh no, now you’ve done it Rosie,” She groused, “Never give her a time limit.” 

“Five minutes? Bet I can do it in two,” The redhead said quickly, grin in place, the clothing stuck to her skin no longer seeming to bother her. 

“Daisy no, that’s not a-“

She took off in a sprint, bag bouncing on her shoulders, as Rosalina weakly finished, “…Challenge.” 

Peach sighed, but it held more amusement than exasperation. 

“Guess she’ll make the shower first after all,” She said, sighing somewhat wistfully as her dreams of a feeling warm and clean were pushed back an hour. 

“Don’t worry, we can switch on the heating for an hour or so while we wait,” Rosalina reassured, watching as Daisy got smaller and smaller as distance formed between them. Peach stretched her arms above her head and hummed in agreement, wrinkling her nose as this shift caused water to drop onto her face, perfectly covered in a light, natural layer of make-up. 

“I’ll be parking myself right underneath the air duct then,” She replied, “But I guess I’ll look over my new design while I wait, I’ve been wondering if maybe I should give it some orange undertones to go with the pink and make a sort of sunset effect, you know? But I’d need to get the shades just right, so they compliment each other and don’t clash…” 

Peach, perhaps unsurprisingly from looking at her, was a fashion major. Despite being best friends and flatmates, none of the three of them done remotely similar classes, with Daisy majoring in sports science and Rosalina in Psychology. The rest of their classes also did not double over, with Peach, a crazy talented singer and pianist, minoring in music while Rosalina minored in Astrology. Daisy did not currently have any minors that she was undertaking, choosing instead to fill her extra time by working her part time job at a local café. This was due to her family’s poorer financial situation, meaning she did not receive as much support as the other two teens in the money department, particularly Peach whose family was admittedly very rich. Rosalina’s upbringing was very much middle class and ordinary, with her family being comfortably well off, however she did work a shift a week at a nearby bookshop for the work experience and, Daisy and Peach often speculated, free access to a great number of books. 

The three girls were all in their second year of university and had met when they lived in the same hall in their accommodation in first year. Somehow, they had just clicked, and they had decided to flat-share the next year in order to save money and get to live with their best friends. Their flat was a cute, modest three-bedroom place, around a twenty minute walk from their main campus, up on the third floor of a building filled with primarily other students due to the convenient location. They were friendly with many of the other residents, Peach having dated one or two of them as Peach was prone to doing, and would frankly be quite sad to leave it when the semester ended. 

Daisy was waiting for them at the entrance, face sour and shivering with cold even as she stood in shelter out of the rain. Rosalina looked at her, confused as to why she would bother waiting, before it clicked. 

“You forgot your key, didn’t you?” 

Daisy simply nodded, scowling as Peach burst out laughing while she fished her own key out of her pocket. The redhead yanked the door open as soon as Peach had twisted it in the lock and bolted into the relative warmth of the hallway. They traipsed up the stairs, dripping water everywhere and receiving a somewhat resigned look from the janitor, Mr Lakitu, who went to fetch his mop. 

“Good old Lakitu,” Daisy said fondly, watching the bespectacled man, “Always cleaning up after our messes.”

“We really lucked out with cleaners, he’s the sweetest guy to talk to,” Agreed Peach, smiling. Daisy elbowed her lightly with a slight snort, quirking an eyebrow. 

“Don’t try and date our janitor please Peach.” 

Peach made a noise halfway between a gasp and a laugh, shoving Daisy away.

“I would never! Talk about age gap, and he’s way too cute and sensitive for me,” She dismissed easily. Peach was certainly the one out of them who had the most dating experience, and had half the boys on campus in love with her due to her stunning looks and figure. Peach wasn’t opposed to dating around, to the point where her flatmates had long since given up even trying to keep track of it, but once she settled with a guy, that would stop in in instant. She just hadn’t happened to settle for around six months now, and when asked would simply wrinkle her nose and say, “These guys are fun and all, but they’re just not dating material.”

“I thought your type was mature guys,” Rosalina teased lightly, small amused smile on her lips. 

“Yeah, mature in personality, not in their thirties Rosie!” 

The three all burst into laughter as they reached their apartment door and opened it. Peach immediately shed her sopping wet jacket, hanging it on the hook and relaxing into the cosy atmosphere of their apartment. Rosalina crouched to pick up the mail, only to yelp as Daisy skilfully managed to vault over her and dash down the hallway to the bathroom, unsettling the mirror hanging on the wall, hollering behind her, “Mine!” 

“Oh Daisy, be careful! You could’ve knocked something over!” Peach called, shaking her head and reaching over to balance the mirror. She frowned suddenly, locking onto a spot on the wall. She turned around to look at it in person, face puzzled. There was an empty spot where a picture of the three of them normally hung. A very quick look around revealed it face down on the floor, and when she crouched to pick it up, she saw it had cracked from the fall. 

“That’s weird,” She commented aloud, looking up at Rosalina who was just now closing the door, “Did you hear this fall when Daisy jumped and ran?” 

Rosalina looked down at the photo and shook her head, confused frown twisting onto her lips.

“No, I’d definitely have noticed, especially with it smashed like that,” She replied. Peach shrugged, standing up and hanging the photo back up, stepping back to see if it was straight. 

“I guess the wind must have knocked it down or something then,” She replied, no longer phased as she kicked off her boots. Rosalina was still frowning though, looking at the photo. 

“We didn’t have any windows open,” She said, hint of uncertainty in her voice. Peach laughed, crouching back down to wrestle with the zip on her right boot, which was refusing to come off with as much ease as the left.

“Relax Rosie, don’t sound so on edge! It probably just got hit by the draught when we closed the door leaving this morning, Daisy was last to leave and she always has her headphones in so she probably didn’t hear it fall. Easy peasy,” She said, clear dismissal in her voice. Rosalina shook her head to clear any remnants of uncertainty, and nodded with a slight laugh. 

“You’re right, I was just being overly cautious. You know there’s been reports of burglaries nearby?” 

“No kidding? You know I think I heard a guy in my class mention that, have you met Matthew-“ 

A sudden shrieking yell from Daisy burst forth from down the hall, and Peach cut herself off, looking at Rosalina with horror, a look which was returned. It wasn’t a mild cry of surprise, like if she turned the shower on and got blasted with cold water, or a startled yell like she’d pulled back the curtain and seen a massive spider parked on the wall. It was a shout of genuine fear, one that was quickly muffled, and one that almost sounded like some kind of…warning. 

The other two girls froze, uncertainty crawling through them, as Peach hesitantly called out, “…Dais? You alright?” 

They stepped further into the apartment wearily, Peach suddenly wondering whether she shouldn’t have dismissed Rosalina so quickly. The older blonde glanced at her and quietly mumbled, “Do you…think we should call the police?” 

A jolt of fear shot through Peach at these words, as she replied, “Surely not. Surely its…I…Surely it’s nothing, right Daisy?” 

These last two words were called out, and their unease only grew at the lack of response from the resident hothead. They exchanged looks again.

“This is so dumb!” Peach suddenly snapped, startling Rosalina as she started stalking forward faster, “She’s probably just playing a prank, right Daisy? Well, very funny!”

“Peach, wait-“ 

The pink clad girl threw open the bathroom door with only a call of, “Sorry if you’re naked in there Daisy,” only to stop short in the doorway, eyes widening in horror. Rosalina paused a few feet away, hand hovering over her mobile phone in her pocket. 

“Peach? Is it okay? Is Daisy okay?” She asked, hesitantly taking another step. She froze on the spot as a harsh, masculine laugh broke out from behind her, followed by a similar sounding voice.

“Not quite, sweetheart. But then, neither are you.” 

She began to twist round, frightened expression clear on her face, only for strong arms to grab her roughly and hold her in place. Her heart pounded in terror as she watched another man step out of the bathroom, Peach backing up to the wall, eyes wide, pupils dilated with fear as she feebly pleaded, “Wait…who…why…?” before she too was grabbed by the man. He skilfully held her still with one hand, and Rosalina jumped in fear as she felt a face lean down to her ear to whisper into it. 

“Scream, and your friends die.” 

A choked sob left her throat, and judging from the sudden streams of tears flowing from Peach’s eyes, she had received a similar threat. But, obediently, neither of them made a noise beyond that. Rosalina felt the man holding her shift, and there was a sound of fabric rustling as if he was digging through his pockets. When this stopped, Peach’s red-rimmed eyes suddenly locked onto hers, wider still, and Rosalina realised too late that the other blonde was trying to warn her of something, as she suddenly felt a sharp sting of what was undoubtedly a needle piercing into the flesh of her neck. Whatever was in the needle was very fast acting, as a sudden wave of nausea and dizziness washed over her, leaving her feeling lightheaded and her vision suddenly wavering. Despite the threat, Rosalina heard Peach scream her name in concern, before a pained yelp indicated she had also felt the prick of a needle and the cold rush of a foreign drug entering her system. After this however, Rosalina didn’t have enough situational awareness to register anything more, and all too quickly her consciousness faded out completely, leaving her unaware as all three girls were hoisted up and carried out of the apartment, the door closing with a soft click behind them. 

It was as if they hadn’t even come home.


	2. Chapter 2

“Is it done?” 

The henchman standing in the middle of the room flinched marginally at the words from the deep, gravelly voice. He cast a sideward glance at his fellow men, the largest of whom stepped forward slowly and inclined his head, his only sign of anxiety the lone bead of sweat trickling down the side of his head, near invisible in the dim lighting of the room. 

“Yes sir. The girl has been secured, and two others as well,” He replied, voice perfectly steady and void of all emotion. He watched the back of the chair, so large that it concealed the man sitting on it from view entirely. At the lack of immediate response, he shared a somewhat wary look with the men behind him and opened his mouth to repeat the information. Before he could however, the hidden man finally spoke up. 

“Why the two others? I didn’t ask for anymore.” 

His words sounded perfectly civil, and his tone held no anger or frustration, but all three henchmen in the room balked slightly, nonetheless. There was an undertone to the words somehow, that implied his unhappiness that his orders had not been carried out exactly as he said. The lead minion spoke up again, voice now holding the slightest hint of hesitation. 

“We did as you said and snatched her from her apartment, sir. But she came home at the same time as her two friends, and she caught us when we knocked out one of them. Considering what would happen if we left witnesses and all the trouble it could cause, we decided to take the two of them too.” 

Their boss let out a low hum of thought, which did not make them feel any safer. A hum was thoughtful. A hum meant he was undecided as to what would be their fates for this decision. A hum meant they were by no means out of the woods yet. 

“…Fine,” He answered at last, and all three slumped in relief, “I suppose they can serve other purposes; I doubt they would get as much as the Kelly girl would. Keep the three of them contained for the next two weeks until it’s time.” 

The three quickly spat out rapid agreements to this order. After this, a silence hung low in the air. The group fidgeted slightly as this continued, eyes flickering hopefully toward the door. They stopped immediately, frozen obediently in place, at the first sign of movement from their boss’ chair.

He slowly spun round, and all three in the room flinched as even in the low lighting his harsh features were displayed clearly. He raised a lighter to his lips and calmly flicked it, a small flame sparking to life and further emphasising his somewhat grotesque face. He lit the cigarette balanced at the corner of his thin, dry lips before letting the flame vanish and cramming the lighter back in his pocket. He continued to examine the now sweating men in front of him, none of which could make eye contact with him. One bravely flicked his eyes up in the general direction of his boss’ face, before paling slightly and hastily averting his gaze downward once more. The boss drummed his fingers on the armrests thoughtfully, before jerking his head to the door in silent but clear dismissal. Relief shone on the faces of his henchmen as they quickly bowed their heads to him respectfully and turned away, only for him to call behind their backs. 

“Next time, don’t go against my direct orders. Or you’ll be sorry.” 

The three picked up the pace, hurrying away out the door and down the hall as his deep, throaty laughter pierced the air mockingly behind them. 

___

Daisy awoke to pain and darkness. 

Stirring slowly, she slid into consciousness at a snail’s pace, but even at such a vague stage of alertness she was acutely aware of a dull aching throb in her neck. She hissed lowly through her teeth, reaching up to rub at the painful spot. Or rather, she would have, had her hands not been bound firmly behind her back. 

Her immediate reaction was confusion, brows furrowing as her heavy eyelids finally parted to reveal bloodshot blue eyes. Said eyebrows then flew up in surprise upon seeing her surroundings, eyes beneath them widening in shock and fear. 

She was in a small, cramped room, boxes piled up around her haphazardly, balanced so precariously it seemed they would topple at the slightest breath. The lighting was very dim, making it incredibly difficult to make out any real detail, but she could tell the low-ceilinged room was square shaped and very musty, a layer of dust clinging to everything and long draping cobwebs falling from the ceiling. A shudder ran up her spine, due to a mixture of this and the coldness of the room. Her clothes were still damp and clung to her uncomfortably. Her arms and legs were cramping from being in the same upright sitting position for too long. But…where was she?

Her memory was somewhat foggy, but she could vaguely recall arriving home with her friends and running for the shower, locking the bathroom door behind her and, as she sat down on the closed toilet to pry her shoes off, hearing the rustling of the shower curtain behind her. And then…nothing. She could recall nothing after that, nothing to give her any explanation as to why she was currently in a room that she certainly did not recognise, all alone. 

Or so she thought, anyway. 

She jumped just about out of her skin as a low groan came from her right, from behind a pile of boxes. She managed to make out a pair of bare legs, bound together at the ankles just as Daisy’s were, and feet void of shoes but with white frilled socks, not unlike the ones Peach and Rosalina often wore. She watched as the two feet twitched and flexed as their owner slowly returned to consciousness just as Daisy had done mere moments ago, and swallowed before somewhat tentatively calling out in a hushed voice, “Hello?”

All movement from the other girl ceased, and she released another pained groan from where she seemed to be lying on the ground feet away. 

“…Daisy?” She asked groggily, and the girl in question blinked in shock as she recognised the voice. 

“Peach?!”

Of course – it wasn’t just that the socks happened to look like Peach’s by sheer coincidence – they actually were hers because it actually was her, lying basically within touching distance. Despite her aching body, and her tied feet making the task somewhat difficult, Daisy shuffled herself forward and right, pushing her hands on the ground to get herself to her friend as fast as possible. Her heart sank as she rounded the boxes Peach was behind, and her eyes met the wide sky blue orbs, blown with distress, staring up at her from the floor. 

Aside from missing her shoes and being in obvious emotional disarray, Peach did not look to be harmed in any way. Her long blonde hair hung in loose curls over her neck, making it impossible to tell if she too had received a painful injection, but Daisy would presume that she had. Her clothes were similarly ruffled and slightly less damp, but she did not have on her jacket which Daisy had last seen her wearing. Her lips were dry and her make up horribly smudged, mascara having long since run down her face in black tracks which had now dried in place. But, physically, she seemed unharmed, which sent a wave of relief through Daisy, an emotion the blonde seemed to share as she registered Daisy’s presence. 

“Oh, you’re okay!” Peach cried, tears brimming in her eyes once more as she fought to blink them back, “It looked like you were dead!” 

A sliver of unease slid down Daisy, like an ice cube being dropped down the back of her shirt – unpleasant, unasked for, and something she desperately wanted rid of. Dead? What made her think that? 

She voiced this question to her friend, who let a few of her tears spill as she looked up at the redhead. 

“I came into the bathroom and you were just lying there! You weren’t moving at all, and there was a huge muscled guy standing over you, what was I supposed to think?!” 

“Peach, Peach!” Daisy hastily attempted to placate her friend, glancing worriedly over at the door on the other side of the room. She may not know where she was or what was going on, but every instinct she had, and every movie she had ever seen, told her that avoiding drawing attention to them was the safest option for now, “It’s fine, I’m fine, see?” 

The pink-clad girl gulped in a breath and released it shakily, and as she took a moment to compose herself, Daisy took the second to ponder whether she should be having this reaction too. Tears had seemed to be Peach’s automatic reaction – understandably so, when waking up in a dark, mysterious room after apparently finding thugs in their apartment who…what, kidnapped them? She couldn’t see why, but it seemed like the only explanation right now. Why else, how else, could they have ended up in this situation? 

She did not feel tears coming, though. Sure, she felt a deep, gut-wrenching dread, and the sort of terror she had not felt since her days as a very small child. A sense of hopelessness and utter confusion hung over her, over the entire chamber frankly, but somehow tears did not come. Maybe, she mused absently, subconsciously she knew that it would do no good. Whoever took them – if indeed, someone did take them – would not likely be swayed by weeping. Blubbering would distract her from her surroundings, the ongoings, and something told her that at least one of them had to be aware of the situation. Besides, while the other two were no cowards, and while she was certainly not rational or reasonable in all parts of life, Daisy was the bravest and most outgoing of the three of them. She would try things, do things, before the other two even thought about them. Her impulse control was non-existent – In fact, Rosalina would often joke that Peach and Rosie were her impulse control, the only things stopping her from doing stupidly thoughtless things 24/7 such as daring herself to eat an entire chilli pepper that was almost certainly long out of code and not safe to eat. 

But, somehow, this lack of impulse control translated itself into a strange sort of situational awareness; she could keep her cool under stress when the other two just could not. Maybe because she had spent half her childhood stressed about one thing or another – money, parents, friends, school – but pressure did not affect her the way it did others. She could take things in stride, where others may crumble. 

But, even for her, keeping her head in this situation was asking a lot. And speaking of Rosalina…

“Peach, what about Rosie? What happened to her, is she okay? Did they get her too?” She asked urgently, stomach dropping at the thought of the pacifistic Rosalina being hurt. Her fears were confirmed when Peach nodded slowly, still attempting to rein in her emotions. 

“I – Yeah, they grabbed her and injected her with something to knock her out like me – “ 

And me, Daisy mentally added.

“ - I don’t know what happened after that though and – Daisy, what do you mean, did they get her? Did who get her? What’s happening to us?!” 

Daisy hushed her quickly, nudging her with her feet to quieten her and receiving a vaguely affronted glare in response. She sighed slowly and looked around as if answers were going to miraculously form out of thin air. 

“…I don’t know,” She admitted, “You were awake longer than I was – I didn’t even realise that I’d been knocked out. One minute I was in the bathroom, the next I was waking up here. But, P, we’re tied up, in some kind of weird storage room, after being drugged – there’s no way someone didn’t k-kidnap us.” 

Upon voicing it aloud, her voice quivered for the first time. The situation, already easily the scariest of Daisy’s eighteen years, had suddenly become even more real. Voicing it meant she could not deny it, could not cling to any vague hopes that this was all some kind of long, twisted joke. Nobody would jab them with real needles, just for the sake of a prank. Nobody. 

Upon hearing these words, Peach flinched. 

“B-but why? What did we do?!” She hissed, thankfully managing to keep her voice quiet. Before Daisy could even try and fathom some kind of answer for her, they both froze as, behind another pile of boxes to the left of where Daisy had awoken, they heard a sharp gasp. Taking a chance, and trusting the gut feeling she had upon hearing this, Daisy called out quietly. 

“Rosie?” 

They did not receive a verbal answer. Instead, they heard a shifting and rustling noise, lasting almost half a minute before Rosalina managed to drag herself into view. She seemed to have been left lying face down, as she was having to manoeuvre herself in a most awkward and undignified way, dragging her stomach along the ground as she used her feet to, with some difficulty, push herself forward, using her elbows and bound hands to pull herself in the right direction. She craned her neck to look up at the other two, wincing at the effort. 

“What is happening here?” She whispered fearfully, voice croaking from misuse. Her hands were scraped from dragging herself along the harsh stone, leggings fraying and ripped at the knees, and her hair pulled back into a once graceful tidy ponytail, now messy with strands falling out. Shaking her own wavy red strands out of her face, Daisy sighed slowly once more. 

“We don’t know. We don’t know where we are, we don’t know who it was that was in our apartment, we don’t know why, we don’t know anything,” She replied, frustration mounting in her voice. If she got angry, it would help push down the fear. And she certainly felt entitled to her anger, considering circumstances. 

Rosalina nodded softly in understanding, eyes flickering around the room nervously. Peach, who had finally completely ceased in her crying and seemed determined to regain her composure, manoeuvred her arms to shrug harshly, turning her face to rub it against her shoulder, removing most of the teartracks lingering there as well as the streaks of mascara on her face. 

“What time do you think it is? How long do you think we’ve been here?” She asked anxiously, using her thumb to twist her ring around her middle finger, a nervous habit that she had always had. Daisy shrugged absently in response, and Rosalina shook her head.

“I have no idea,” The other blonde said, swallowing and clearing her throat before trying to speak again, “But Daisy’s jeans still look damp, so it can’t have been more than a day.”

“They are, it’s freezing,” The named girl grumbled, squirming. The cold air of the room was not exactly speeding up the drying process, so while her hoodie seemed to have finished drying while she was still out, her heavier jeans still clung cold and vaguely soggy to her legs, “They must have legged it with us straight from the apartment, we’re dressed the complete same ; look, I still have my shoes, Peach doesn’t, and Rosie…” 

“Has one,” The older girl finished, smile somewhat sardonic as she managed to wave her legs into the air, showing her right foot was missing the black shoe that her left foot had  
on, “The other one must have fallen off. So, you’re right, they really didn’t take the time to do anything to us.”

“That’s all fine and well, but why take us in the first place? Hostages or something? My family is broke, they’re not getting a ransom or anything so –“

“Mine isn’t,” Peach whispered, face paling slightly, “What if…”

She trailed off, but the other two understood where she was going immediately. 

“…Your family is one of the richest in California,” Rosalina said quietly, looking slightly queasy. 

“Which is saying something since everyone in California is loaded,” Chimed in Daisy, voice equally low. 

“But…but…they took all three of us, why would they…I mean, my dad would pay it, I know he would, but…but why would…did…are you saying…Did I get you two kidnapped because my dad is rich?!” 

The last word came out as a semi-hysterical screech, Peach’s entire face looking panicked and desperate, looking between the two of them as if hoping they would disprove her. She would hate to be indirectly responsible for something like this; for all her family’s fame and fortune, she was remarkably generous with her money, dismissing attempts to pay her back for coffee or lunch and frequently surprising her friends with gifts she knows they will love. The thing about Peach is that she cares, deeply and quickly, for people. She never wants them to feel unappreciated, and admittedly often used money to show people she cared. Never as a bribe, just buying them things to remind them that they matter. To remind them that she is in their corner. She was a good, loving friend…

And from the looks of it, the guilt of this situation would eat her alive if it was confirmed to be the case. 

“We don’t know that,” Rosalina hastened to speak, voice now back to its gentle lulling tone, looking as if she regretted having spoken up, “For all we know, we were just in the wrong place, wrong time. It could have nothing to do with your money.” 

Peach only looked marginally comforted by these words, seeming unconvinced, and privately Daisy could not blame her. But there was something about Rosalina, a quiet sort of calmness, even in this situation, that made you want to listen to her, be soothed by her. Rosalina was remarkably motherly for a nineteen-year-old girl – perhaps due to her close relationship with her younger sister – and, particularly in exam season or near deadlines, was the only thing that kept Peach and Daisy sane and alive. She would gently pull Peach away from her design notebook and fifth cup of coffee at two in the morning, would coax Daisy back indoors from running laps until her lungs burned, would cook for them to make sure neither of them forgot to eat during these intense periods – while juggling her own coursework. Rosalina was, through and through, the most comforting person anyone could hope to have around. She squirmed forward, hissing slightly as her skin scraped along the floor, and managed to awkwardly twist her arms to grasp one of Peach’s hands, giving a tight squeeze. 

“And even if that were the case,” Daisy chimed in, “It’s not your fault. No way.”

Peach looked up at her in surprise, as Rosalina quickly nodded. 

“She’s right, they’re the ones who took us. Besides, I would rather be here with you than worrying about you stuck at home,” Rosalina said, shooting a warm smile at a suddenly once again tearful Peach. 

“Rosie…” 

Daisy suddenly sat up straighter, stilling, and quickly interrupted, “Shh!” 

Her two friends looked at her, confused and more than a little wary, before they too registered the low hum of voices coming closer outside the door. They all remained utterly silent, until finally snippets of the conversation began to reach them. 

“-Just saying that I doubt they’ll sell as well, is all. Daddy’s little rich kid, pretty little flexible blonde, she’ll go in a heartbeat, and high too. Boss chose her well, I’m not surprised.”

Another voice grunted in agreement.

“Yeah, though I hear when he saw her he took a real liking to her – can’t blame him, stunning little thing she is. The other two ain’t half bad either, you’re seriously underestimating how much these people will pay for pretty much any pretty young face,” He replied. 

“Yeah, yeah, but they’re not that young. That’ll put a lot of people off. And the other two don’t got the thrill of being the kid of one of the richest businessmen in the US,” The first argued. They now appeared to be right outside the door, and all three girls tensed, hearts racing as their minds worked to process the words they were hearing. 

“They’ll still sell well, mark my words, the boss’ll make sure of it. And if they somehow don’t, who knows, maybe we can keep ‘em. Or dispose of them. Who cares, but we did not drag them all the way here from Washington just to let them go,” The other man growled, and Daisy felt her blood turn to ice even more than it already had. ‘All the way here from Washington’, he had said. If they were no longer in Washington, the state of their university…where were they? And what exactly did they mean, sell well? Or dispose of them? Her mind was whirring a million miles an hour trying to comprehend all of this.

Peach looked very nauseous a few feet away, and Rosalina was squeezing her hand so hard the knuckles on both their hands were stark and white, shaking like a leaf. Daisy briefly wished she could join in that comfort, too, but her attention was drawn as the conversation outside continued as the first man snorted. 

“Don’t act like you’re so hard done by; you weren’t even there. Anyway, you got the key, right?” 

“Huh? No, you were supposed to grab it,” He protested, quickly drowned out by a long groan from the other man.

“Unbelievable. No, I wasn’t, that was your job. You can go get it then, and you can be the one to tell boss what the holdup is if you run into him. Go on, go. I ain’t moving.” 

Grumblings quickly faded away along with a single set of heavy footsteps, back the way they came. But none of the three dared to speak up knowing that one more man stood stationed outside the door. Daisy’s eyes were trained on the bottom of the door, where she now noticed the shadow of the man standing there. She looked back at her friends, petrified, and Rosalina quickly jerked her head to signal for her to come closer. She done so, allowing them to converse in tones barely even a whisper. 

“What do we do?” Breathed Peach, “They’re coming. I don’t want to be sold, I don’t want to die, oh god.” 

She sucked in a rapid somewhat rattled breath, before darting her eyes over to the door to ensure this hadn’t been heard by the new guard. She continued. 

“I don’t, I-I…do we fight? Like, what do we do?”

“Fight how? They’re probably twice the size of us, and we’re tied up,” Daisy replied somewhat warily, chest tight. Her heart was going like a jackhammer, and a strange ringing was clear in her ears. Her entire body felt heavy from defeat, the will to fight draining out of her in a way it never had before. Whatever way she looked at it, this situation seemed hopeless. Whatever happened to the three of them, there was no way it would be good. For the first time, she felt the sting of tears in her eyes and blinked heavily to push them back. Rosalina looked up at her in mild concern but looked similarly helpless. 

“We can’t,” She said, voice hollow, “We can’t fight, how could we? None of us are fighters, only Daisy could hold her own in a fight and that’s against someone she’s evenly matched with.” 

Silence hung as the truth of this statement hit them, and Daisy suddenly sat up straighter. Her black belt in karate might not serve her well against a random thug, but she’d fought plenty of messy fights back in school. She had fought against people who she certainly should not have won against, but had. Sheer determination, planning and dumb luck could get a person far. If she could only get out of these ropes, she could at least give it her best attempt to save herself and her friends…

A sudden scuffle and yell outside the door startled all three, and they quickly paid attention and fell quiet once more. A shout, one that sounded like the man who was guarding their door, pierced the air, only to be muffled by what sounded like someone cramming a hand over their mouth. And suddenly, a new voice could be heard. 

“That’s it, you just keep quiet while we do our thing…” 

“Mar,” Another voice, also unfamiliar but less gruff and more anxious, “We gotta hurry, the other guy will be back here any minute.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t crowd me baby brother, I just gotta find the right key, gimme a sec…” 

“Mario!” The other voice implored fretfully, “Hurry! The others will be waiting, and whoever is in here, it won’t do them or anyone else any good if we get caught too!” 

“Are we ever caught?” The first person asked, seemingly rhetorically as he did not wait for an answer, “Hold on, I think I…Yep, got it!” 

Sharing a panicked but puzzled look, the three girls huddled together, eyes trained on the door, unsure of what to do or in fact what they even could do to defend themselves.

But it did not matter how unprepared they were. There was a jangling of a key being crammed in and twisted, before the lock clicked, and the door swung, seemingly in slow motion, open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow yeah so I kind of got distracted by lots of things and it took me a week to update. On the bright side, I'm typing this while snuggled in my brand new oodie which I seriously recommend everyone gets. It is like wearing a big, cosy cloud. But anyway, not the point. Have a chapter.  
> (And yes, they did get rescued very quickly after around a day, but I'm taking certain liberties - I experimented with having them stuck there but it started to just drag on so I elected not to. Lets just assume that their rescuers are very very quick and talented - which we all know is true! And I also suffer from a well known disease called Impatience. I'm excited to get into the main part of the story, with mario and the others being introduced, so I am having to fight through the sadly necessary intro stuff haha)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I don’t get it,” She said, shaking her head, “Who are you? Why are you helping us?” 
> 
> The two boys exchanged brief glances, before refocusing on the corridor ahead. 
> 
> “Saving people is kinda what we do, Blondie,” Mario remarked absently, ignoring Peach’s huff of indignancy at the nickname, “And as for who we are, the name’s Mario. And this is my little bro, Luigi.” 
> 
> Upon being named, the taller boy raised a hand in greeting, still occupied with keeping Rosalina, who was admittedly looking more stable now, upright.

It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the sudden burst of light that flowed into the room. Daisy squinted her eyes, wincing, attempting to make out the figures stood in the doorway.

As her eyes became accustomed to the new lighting level, she took them in. Two young men, looking hardly any older than they were, stared back at her, the taller of the two looking them over curiously while the shorter one folded his arms and frowned at them, eyes scanning over them.

They both had the same shade of blue eyes, slightly darker than Daisy’s own. The taller one, who Daisy could tell would be taller than her (the tallest of their group at 5”8), seemed to hold himself somewhat awkwardly, slumped slightly, hands drumming against his blue jean covered legs in an antsy way. He wore a green and black checked shirt, and a matching green cap, emblazoned with a large letter ‘L’, sat atop his head with dark brown hair poking out the bottom messily. He tapped his green high-top clad foot anxiously as the two groups stared each other down, and he at least looked relatively harmless.

The shorter one, despite looking like he was around the same height as Daisy, did not put her at ease as quickly. His eyes were sharp, beneath thick eyebrows that furrowed slightly as he looked them up and down. His hair, underneath a cap identical to the other but red with the letter ‘M’, was shorter and less messy looking than the other boys, but his outfit of red sweatpants and a blue sweatshirt looked less presentable. He was built stockier than the other boy, who was slightly scrawny, and had the beginnings of a moustache bristling atop his lip.

“Come on,” Hissed the shorter one, “We gotta go, now!”

“We’re tied up,” Peach replied somewhat blankly, eyes fixated on the ground behind the two males, where Daisy noticed an older, considerably more muscular, man unconscious against the wall. The shorter of the boys cursed under his breath, before the both of them darted into the room and approached the girls on the floor.

Daisy tensed as the taller one reached her, but he raised his hands in mock surrender and shot a somewhat awkward half smile her way before saying, “I’m just untying you, that’s all.”

It didn’t exactly stop her from being on edge, but she cautiously twisted round to allow him access to her bound wrists anyway. He crouched down and quickly and skilfully set to untying the tight knot, which Daisy would admit had been rubbing at her wrists in a fairly painful way. She hissed slightly as he tugged at her arm, pulling it in a way it was not intended to be pulled, and he hastily mumbled an apology but did not slow his working, until Daisy felt the ropes fall away. She sighed in relief, pulling her arms around to her front and twisting her stiff wrists, flexing her achy fingers and rolling her very sore shoulders. Meanwhile, as the other boy done the same to Rosalina just feet away, the green-clad boy got to work on her ankles, and she could now see how rapidly he worked. Almost as if he were used to this kind of thing. Rosalina was fully free before she was however, and the blonde sat up slowly, wincing as she used her scraped hands to push herself into an upright position as her saviour moved to Peach and started working on her bonds.

Daisy moved to help the boy finish freeing her legs, but before she could even try he was giving the rope a final flourish as he pulled it away from her, and Daisy was free. She pulled her ankles away from each other, morbidly musing that she never wanted to be in a three legged race and feel rope around her feet ever again. Still slightly wary of the two strangers, she put one hand on the wall next to her and attempted to push herself up to stand up, but she was doomed before she even started. Her body still felt slightly weak from whatever drug had been pumped into their systems to knock them out, and after not having moved basically at all for the past however many hours, her legs were currently well and truly out for the count. She scowled and flexed them, hoping to get the blood flowing to them a little quicker so that she could at least stand some chance of fighting back if these two turned out to be bad news. Meanwhile, the taller boy had joined the other one by Peach’s side, working on her feet as the other one did her hands. He tilted his head, mild bemused look on his face.

“You don’t have any shoes on,” He noted. Peach stared at him somewhat incredulously.

“Really? That’s your biggest concern right now?” She demanded, voice still sounding slightly panicked. The red clad boy waved a hand dismissively.

“Ignore him and his sudden foot fetish. Bro, get to work,” He commanded, drowning out his apparent brother’s cry of protest.

“I-I don’t! I don’t have – that’s not – Mario!” He squawked, face flustered and cheeks dark with embarrassment. Daisy almost felt sorry for the poor guy, who continued to look at Peach, imploring her to believe him as his hands stayed far away from her legs. The other boy – Mario? – rolled his eyes.

“Luigi. Focus,” He ordered, shooting his brother a sharp look, “That’s not important, we gotta move fast.”

Face still scarlet, the green boy – Luigi – mumbled out an apology, either to Peach or to his brother, and quickly got to work untying her ankles. For a second, a flash of amusement seemed to shoot across Peach’s face as she watched Luigi, the sort of look one might have while watching a puppy try and climb stairs ; a sort of pity, mostly crushed under the humour of the situation.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Rosalina were still in the process of trying to stand up. Daisy’s frustration was mounting with each failed attempt, a scowl forming as she rubbed her backside absently from having fallen hard on it countless times. As Peach was finally released, stretching her arms and legs with a delighted groan, Luigi left her side and, somewhat awkwardly, offered Daisy a hand. She stared at it, still slightly suspicious of the two of them, and his face went slightly red again.

“You’re not gonna be able to stand on your own fast enough,” He justified, “It’ll go faster if you let us help out.”

She somewhat reluctantly accepted the hand, and with surprising strength for someone seeming so scrawny he hauled her to her feet, allowing her to shoot her other arm out to grab his in a tight grip as her legs trembled, threatening to cave underneath her. She squeezed her eyes shut gritting her teeth in an attempt to remain steady, breathing slowly. A few moments passed, and she slowly released his arm, standing mostly steady on her own two feet, hand hovering an inch away from the wall in case she needed to catch herself. He lingered in case she suddenly plummeted back to the ground, and when it became clear that she could mostly manage on her own he darted back over to Rosalina to offer the same assistance, while his brother had hauled Peach to her feet, seemingly without bothering to ask for permission if her yelp of protest was anything to go by.

She focused her attention back on herself, taking one tiny unsteady step. When this did not fell her, she took another, until she managed to walk in a somewhat squint and slow straight line.

“We don’t have time for this,” Mario hissed at last. He grabbed Peach’s arm and draped it over her shoulder, and nodded for Luigi to do the same.

“You, Red,” he commanded, and Daisy realised he was talking to her, “If we go slow, can you keep up?”

“I…yeah, I’ll try.”

Rosalina shot her a wary but encouraging smile, still looking slightly bamboozled about whatever was happening to them. Daisy admittedly didn’t know how to feel either, as she stepped over the unconscious body in front of the door. Peach’s eyes were on him again as well.

“Did…did you kill him?” She whispered, looking frightened. Mario shook his head.

“Nah. We’d be no better than them if we did. He’s just KO’d from a bunch of chloroform,” He replied, still pulling Peach along as she tried to sort her legs out with difficulty.

She didn’t exactly seem like she felt better at the knowledge that the two guys were carrying around chloroform, so she finally began to ask some questions.

“I don’t get it,” She said, shaking her head, “Who are you? Why are you helping us?”

The two boys exchanged brief glances, before refocusing on the corridor ahead.

“Saving people is kinda what we do, Blondie,” Mario remarked absently, ignoring Peach’s huff of indignancy at the nickname, “And as for who we are, the name’s Mario. And this is my little bro, Luigi.”

Upon being named, the taller boy raised a hand in greeting, still occupied with keeping Rosalina, who was admittedly looking more stable now, upright.

“Okay, names are great and all, but-“

Peach was cut off by Mario, much to her offence.

“And what’s yours?”

Daisy frowned suspiciously.

“Why should we trust you with that?” She challenged, “For all we know this is some trap, some trick.”

The older brother scowled slightly, craning his head back to shoot her an annoyed look, “We could’ve just as easily left you all there, Red. What would be the point in us busting you out to try and trick you, when they were already coming for you?”

“To make us trust you?” Rosalina chimed in, sounding slightly doubtful of her own words.

“For what? Seriously, what would be the point? They were gonna get rid of you anyway with or without someone tricking you to gain your trust. Is it seriously so hard to believe we’re just doing a jailbreak to help some innocent girls avoid some awful fate?” He challenged in return, and none of the three girls spoke up. His brother did, though.

“You don’t have to trust us,” He said mildly, “But we really do want to get you out of here.”

Somehow it sounded more believable coming from him, his eyes wide with sincerity. He could have been lying, true, or just one hell of an actor, but…well, what they were saying did make sense. It would be pretty pointless to go about things this way. Rosalina, who had pulled away from Luigi to walk on her own, looked between her other two friends, and made a decision.

“I’m Rosalina,” She said, and Daisy’s head jerked in her direction in surprise.

“Rosie, wait-“

“She’s Daisy, and this is Peach,” She finished, nodding toward the wary looking blonde who still had her arm wrapped around Mario’s neck. Daisy frowned in protest, but the younger of the brothers looked slightly happier, as if pleased that they were at least somewhat trusted.

Oh well, Daisy mused, my strength seems to be mostly back so I can at least try and deck them if this all goes to hell.

This thought had barely crossed her mind when alarms suddenly began to blare all around them, causing all them to jump out of their skins, except Mario who just looked mildly inconvenienced.

“Look’s like they’ve noticed you’re gone,” Luigi guessed, grimacing, “We gotta run.”

He grabbed Rosalina’s wrist, and looked at Daisy who thankfully was capable of running on her own. Luigi lead the way, tugging Rosalina behind him, and together their ragtag group bolted down the corridor to make their escape.

___

Peach really, really, _really_ envied Daisy.

This thought came as she was doubled over, gasping for breath, throat burning and vision slightly blurred from exertion that only came from sprinting for half an hour straight on legs that had almost forgotten how to work. Rosalina was in a similarly winded state a few feet away, but Daisy, ever the athletic, was upright and taking several deep, steady breaths. Her face was red from the effort of the run, but otherwise she seemed to be mostly alright.

_I really have to start going on the treadmills at the gym,_ Peach thought somewhat ruefully. As if the run weren’t bad enough, she had been doing it barefoot, and was currently paying the price for it right now in the form of her aching feet and blisters she could already feel forming. At least she wasn’t Rosie, who had been limping a somewhat unsteady run considering she only had one stupid shoe on. And as for their mysterious saviours…

Her eyes landed on the two boys who were standing a few feet away. They looked similarly unaffected by the run, despite the fact both of them had been dragging teenage girls behind them the whole way. They had brought them to some wide alleyway, which in the bright morning light thankfully did not look too shady or dangerous. The two of them were talking in low voices, and Peach quickly found herself on edge again. She pulled up the sleeves of her jumper in an attempt to cool down, and made her way to Daisy’s side.

“This is insane,” She whispered, voice unsteady from her raw, dry throat. Daisy looked over at her and nodded, uncharacteristically nervous.

“I can’t believe…I mean, Boston. It’s nuts.”

Oh right. The other bombshell that had been dumped on them after escaping the hideout and coming straight into an unfamiliar bustling city. No longer in Washington, the brothers had said. Got transported here in a helicopter. Here being Boston that is, on the opposite side of the country that they were supposed to be on.

_Cool._

Except no, not cool. Not at all. Daisy, who had never been outside of her home state of Arizona apart from to go to college, was finally looking overwhelmed. And even Peach, who had been across the US and even the world with her daddy on business trips and such, could admit that this situation was…not the best. Rosalina, an Oregon native who had frequently done cross country family road trips, seemed to be trying her best to remain calm, but her eyes kept casting around her at all the tall, modern buildings in open curiosity.

“Mario! Weeg!”

The three girls jumped at the sudden cry from the entrance to the alley, tensing only to suddenly grow confused as a green blur shot past them to barrel into the pair of brothers.

“Yoshi!” An exasperated voice called, as a boy followed at a more sedate pace, “Slow down!”

The smaller person turned back, bright smile on his youthful face. He was a much younger boy than them, probably no older than eleven or twelve. His bright blue eyes were glimmering cheerfully, freckles dusting over his cheeks and his smile missing one or two teeth. His head was covered by a mop of bright red curls, putting Daisy’s red hair to shame, and he was clad in a baggy green hoodie with a dinosaur printed on the front of it (and dinosaur spikes on the hood, she noted with mild amusement) and green cargo shorts with brown boots laced up messily on his feet. In other words, he was one undeniably cute kid.

The other boy looked seriously done with the little kid. He was a few years older, maybe around fifteen or so, but seemed to be lacking in the height department, barely surpassing five foot. He was wearing a white beanie with large red spots over very light blonde hair which hung into his small brown eyes. His cheeks still held some baby fat in them, and he wore a sleeveless blue denim jacket over a red shirt, with baggy white sweatpants on the bottom and ragged brown sneakers.

“Sorry Toad!” The little boy chirped, hanging onto Luigi’s arm, “I just haven’t seen them for so-o long!”

“You saw us two days ago, Yoshi,” Luigi pointed out, lips twitching as he seemed to try and resist the urge to smile.

“Exactly!” He cried, now trying to hug a most unreceptive Mario. The other boy, the one Yoshi had called Toad, finally landed his eyes on the girls and sent them a wave, before he looked at Peach and his face flooded with colour, a strange high pitched noise escaping his throat, and he quickly looked away. The three other boys sent him a strange look while Daisy snorted in amusement despite the situation.

“Even after busting out of prison, Peach can still have this effect on guys. Unbelievable.”

“We weren’t in _prison,_ ” Peach argued, tiny smile forming on her lips. She was, not to sound full of herself, pretty used to guys reacting this way to her. It was kind of gratifying to know that she didn’t look too bad despite all they’d been through. She still shuddered at the greasy feeling of her face though. _My kingdom for a make-up wipe,_ she thought longingly. Luigi glanced between the two newcomers and the group of girls.

“Oh, right. Guys, this is Peach, Rosalina and Daisy, the ones we were rescuing. Girls, these two kids are Yoshi and Toad. They hang around with us most of the time, but we don’t tend to bring them on rescue missions like yours. It’s not safe.”

Peach could definitely understand wanting to keep Yoshi safe. His bright, cheerful attitude reminded Peach of her younger sister, around the same age as him. Her heart twinged. How long had it been since she’d seen her? Christmas, probably. The two looked so alike that people had jokingly began referring to her little sister as simply “Baby Peach” at times. Peach always missed her like crazy, but right now, with the knowledge of the distance between the two of them and all the crazy events that had occurred, she really wanted nothing more than to be home with her, curled up on the couch and watching a movie.

She was torn from these wistful thoughts as the energetic little boy shot over to hug her, much to her surprise. He let go quickly, and moved over to do the same to Rosie and Daisy, before beaming up at all of them.

“Hi!” He said eagerly, “I’m Yoshi! Are you going to be with us now? Can we be friends? I don’t get to have many friends ‘cept for Toad and Mar and Weeg, and a couple others like Diddy ‘nd stuff, so it’d be nice! Do you like dinosaurs? We could play dino-“

“Yoshi!” Mario interrupted loudly, “Enough! Leave them alone! They don’t need to deal with your non-stop chattering already!”

“But-“

“He has a point, Yoshi. You do have a tendency to talk. A lot. Non stop. Never ending. Relentless-“

“Okay, Luigi we get it! Geez!” Mario grumbled, rolling his eyes again.

“And you say Yoshi talks a lot,” Toad replied somewhat wryly, grinning even as Yoshi whiningly cut in, “I do _not!_ ”

And in the blink of an eye, the four boys had descended into bickering without any warning, leaving the three girls to watch these strangers fall into chaos, at a loss and wondering how on earth their lives had ended up like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay here! I'm really easily distracted ; this months distractions include (but are not limited to) Stardew Valley, the new Fruits Basket anime, Hamilton, cocktails and babysitting.   
> But here's a hint for you ; seeing reviews really gives me a push of motivation to write. So if you want these chapters out faster, drop a review to help convince me I'm not an awful writer! :)   
> (As a side, I don't love this chapter but I really needed to get it out. On the bright side, how cute is Yoshi? Why did I decide to make him an 11 year old, you ask?   
> Because I can. And because Yoshi is tied with Luigi for my favourite character and I think he's too darn cute to not make an adorable little kid.)   
> So, please review/kudos/just read I'm not the boss of you, and see you next time!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So...what now?" 
> 
> This turns out to be quite a loaded question.

“So…what now?”

From the top bunk opposite Peach, where he sat with his long legs swinging off the edge, Luigi looked up in their direction.

It was night-time, and somehow they had lucked their way into a near-empty hostel for the night. Their only company was a drunken old man who was lying passed out on the bunk in a far corner from them, bottle hanging loose from his hand, his loud rumbling snores the only indication that he was actually still alive. When asked to produce some form of ID at the front desk, Mario had whipped out a learner’s permit that Peach would bet a solid chunk of her family’s money was not entirely real. As far as the receptionist knew, they were “two brothers and a couple of different cousins, on the road for a family reunion.” It didn’t seem all that convincing to Peach, considering aside from Mario and Luigi, none of them looked at all alike. But Luigi had reassured them that it was an approach that virtually never had any questions asked about it, particularly when they set Yoshi on the case to look up at her very eagerly and start babbling about how excited he was to see his Aunts and Uncles.

For such a sweet young kid, he was one hell of an actor.

She admittedly still didn’t know why they were here. They didn’t know where else to go when stranded in Boston, and the brothers had suggested they accompany them for the night until they figure it out. They seemed to know something that the girls didn’t, if their long shared look before suggesting this was anything to go by. But whatever it was, they weren’t in a rush to share.

Yoshi was sat on the slightly off-colour wooden floor playing with a toy dinosaur he’d pulled out of his backpack. He was only ten, according to the brothers, nearly eleven. They didn’t explain why in the world a ten year old was hanging around a group of teenagers seemingly on the run, and Peach got the feeling the explanation wasn’t coming any time soon. Toad was sat on the lower bunk beneath Luigi, casting sideways glances over at her and immediately looking away again every so often, cheeks pink. Daisy was on the bunk beneath her, and Rosalina was next to Peach on the bunk above what would be Yoshi’s. Mario had a final bunk bed to himself and had elected to take the bottom one.

Mario…she still didn’t know how to feel about him, but she got the feeling he certainly didn’t like them very much. Luigi had at least tried to chat to them in a friendly manner on the way here, as had Toad, with Yoshi keeping up a constant stream of background babble as he skipped along beside them. But the oldest boy had barely said a word to them. He’d looked them all over, eyes flickering with clear distain over her bare legs and mini denim skirt, before turning and instructing them to follow. He had replied to the odd remark from one of the other boys, but otherwise seemed to mostly keep to himself in this situation. Even now, upon hearing her ask this question, he merely flickered his eyes over in their direction before letting his gaze fall back to staring at the bottomside of the top bunk.

“I mean,” She elaborated, “What should we do now? If we can maybe ask to use the phone at the front desk, I can probably call my parents to get us a flight home and-“

“No,” Mario cut in sharply, and she jumped slightly at the firmness of his tone. She frowned slightly as she heard Daisy shift beneath her, no doubt also turning to shoot him an upset look.

“What do you mean, no?” The resident redhead demanded, and Peach leaned over the edge slightly to see that she was indeed scowling at the other boy, “Why shouldn’t we call our folks? It’s not like any of us have our phones or credit cards on us.”

That was true. Peach’s phone and purse were in her bag, which she had set down when she had entered their apartment. Rosalina’s phone had been in her hand and had fallen to the ground when they had been confronted. However, Daisy’s had been crammed into her jeans pocket, and was now missing. They figured that whoever had taken them must have removed it from her person, lest they try and call for help.

“We have phones,” Luigi confessed, pulling a slightly scratched phone that was probably several years old, based on the model, out of his pocket, “But, uh, Mario’s right. You shouldn’t call home yet. They might have bugged your family’s line, if they found their addresses. They’ll probably be watching them now they know you’ve escaped.”

This was a lot of information to be receiving all of a sudden, and Daisy threw her hands out in a time out gesture.

“Woah, woah, hold everything. First off – who IS ‘they’?”

“The ones who kidnapped you,” Luigi explained, “They call themselves the Koopa gang. They’re pretty widespread across the country.”

“Okay, so why did they kidnap US?” Rosalina asked, small anxious frown twisting her lips. Yoshi had paused his play to listen to the conversation, looking oddly mournful for the first time today.

“Cause they’re bad,” He intoned simply, frowning at the dinosaur in his hands. He looked even smaller than he actually was all of a sudden, sat in that slightly baggy green dinosaur sweater, eyes downcast, cross-legged on the floor. She felt a sudden urge to hug him once again. Toad reached across to ruffle his hair lightly in what was clearly an attempt to cheer the boy up – though from what, again, Peach didn’t know - and Luigi looked at him for a moment with saddened eyes before shaking his head to clear his mind and looking back over at the girls.

“That, yeah, and also, well…it’s a form of income for them,” He confessed, “Kidnapping people and selling them on. It’s usually younger kids-“ (She did not miss how his eyes once again briefly flit over to Yoshi before redirecting) “-But if there’s a good reason, they’ll sometimes take older people.”

“Good reason like being filthy rich,” Mario added, “Or a pretty, defenceless blonde girl and her friends.”

He now had three girls staring at him with varying degrees of distain.

“Who are you calling defenceless?” Challenged Daisy, “I’m a black belt, you know! I’ve beat guys like you on the playground since I was _seven_!”

Luigi, possibly sensing the troubling direction of this conversation, quickly took up talking again.

“Anybody would be defenceless against that gang, there’s hundreds, thousands even, of members. And we don’t know for sure why you were taken,” He said, sending his brother a pointed look with a hint of exasperation, “So there’s no use worrying about that right now.”

“We do,” Peach interjected, stomach suddenly heavy, “He’s right. Those guards were talking about me, calling me a pretty little rich girl. That’s why they took me. Rosie and Daisy were just…wrong place, wrong time.”

She felt sick even saying the words. Never before had her money brought her this kind of trouble before. She would never, not _ever_ , want to bring trouble to her friends like this. She loved Daisy and Rosalina as much as any family member. The thought of her being the cause of them getting kidnapped of all things…it was almost too much to bear. She felt the pressure of tears forming again, but blinked heavily to prevent them. No more crying. She wasn’t going to be seen as this weak crybaby.

Rosalina seemed to sense the direction her thoughts were going in, and reached over to grasp her hand and give it a firm squeeze. This helped ground Peach, who exhaled slowly and shook her head.

“You know what? I’m gonna go shower. I just feel gross. Can we hold off on the questions for like…ten minutes? I just…okay? Okay.”

She didn’t quite give them the chance to respond. She simply snatched the slightly scraggly towel from her bed, slid down her ladder quickly and made her way purposefully over to the shower room, hoping and praying that the pounding water might clear her mind somewhat.

_

Rosalina watched Peach go with a small frown on her face.

The other blonde was clearly still slightly upset – not that she could blame her. This situation was overwhelming enough without adding guilt to the pile of emotions they were all feeling. Rosalina’s head felt like it could honestly explode at any moment, to be frank. Her hands and knees were still stinging from the grazes on them, so she would frankly welcome a shower too. Her eyes landed on Daisy, who had also watched Peach go with a small frown.

“…She shouldn’t blame herself,” She muttered, “It’s not her fault.”

Rosalina hummed in agreement, mentally setting a reminder to reassure Peach of this much when she was back.

“She’s quite right, I guess – if you want to shower and stuff, may as well get that out the way first. Talk can come after,” Luigi remarked, removing his hat and running his hand through his hair with a slight sigh. This situation must be stressful for them too, she supposed. They were the ones helping them, after all. And they were almost certainly on that gang’s hit list after doing so. Toad did not seem phased about this right now, however. He stretched his arms up with a yawn, kicking off his shoes.

“I could just use a sleep, personally,” He confessed. He seemed a lot more ready to talk without Peach around to fluster him. It was quite amusing, watching the fifteen year old (as he was revealed to be) become a bright red, stammering mess at the mere sight of Peach. He looked down at the battered wristwatch he was wearing, and added, “Looks like it’s past your bedtime too, Yosh.”

“Aww!” The little boy whined. He still looked mildly bothered by whatever had upset him earlier, but seemed to have put that aside in order to protest the unfairness of bedtime, “Can’t I have fifteen minutes more!”

“Nope.”

“Ten?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Five?” He pleaded hopefully, blue eyes wide. Toad rolled his own darker eyes.

“If you can stretch moving from the floor to bed out five minutes, then sure.”

As she watched Yoshi literally begin to move in slow motion to milk his dwindling moments of freedom, she couldn’t help but feel amused about the fact that it was the younger teen who seemed to be mothering little Yoshi, and not the 19 or 20 year olds (a fact Lugi had disclosed to them on the walk over here). It seemed to be in his nature to look after people, as he had constantly hounded her on the walk about her minor injuries, but it was amusing nonetheless. Daisy had made a passing quip about her finding a kindred spirit, which she supposed was apt. She did like to look after other people too. That was why she felt so uncomfortable at the thought of Peach feeling so down for no reason. It was also probably why she felt a strong urge to look out for little Yoshi; the boy was so undeniably innocent and sweet-natured, it was hard to not adore him right off the bat.

By the time Yoshi had made it to his bed, managing to drag out the four feet over an impressive three minutes 43 seconds, Peach had returned from the shower. She was still in the same clothes considering they didn’t exactly have spare, but her skin now had its natural glow instead of being coated in days-old make up and her hair hung damp down her back.

“I can’t believe I’ve had to put on two day old underwear again,” She sighed ruefully, carrying her damp towel and socks which she must have worn in the shower – probably a wise decision in a hostel.

She and Daisy took their turns, with Daisy taking advantage of the small heater outside the bathroom to hang her jeans on so they were at last warm and cozy instead of cold and damp. By the time they had all finished washing, Yoshi was down for the count, little arm dangling limply off the edge of the bed and dinosaur curled against his chest with the other arm, soft snores escaping him. Toad looked slightly sleepy too, and was curled under the thin covers looking out at them as they all settled down.

“Okay, so…Koopa Gang. What’s their deal?” Daisy asked. Luigi met her gaze, and cleared his throat.

“Well, they’re a gang, obviously. Like we said, they, uh, are prone to kidnapping and selling on people. That’s just one of the ways they get their money, though. We’ve had quite a few run ins with them, and we…well, uh, we like to try and help out the people they take if we can,” Luigi began. Peach tilted her head.

“How come? It must get a little dangerous,” She noted. Mario cleared his throat loudly and took over from his brother, bypassing the question entirely.

“But like we said again, there’s a lot of ‘em. And the people we save we tend to notice that they’re pretty quick to start spying on the families, probably so they can snatch their people back if they try and make contact with ‘em. Their workers might not be the smartest individually, but their boss is nothing to snort at, and a lot of the members are annoyingly smart sometimes.”

It was the most Rosalina had heard him speak in one go thus far. But she focused more on the words themselves, and was the first to speak up.

“…So we could put our families in danger if we tried to call them?” She realised, heart clenching as she thought of her four year old sister Luma getting taken the way she had been. Luigi nodded, a pang of pity shooting across his face as he looked back at them.

“Maybe. It’s not a chance I would take. You just need to lay low for a while, that’s all. A couple months, then maybe move from where you live and just be on guard.”

Be on guard. For the rest of their lives? Maybe. It sounded like a very depressing lifestyle. But Daisy spotted the more pressing issue.

“…Lay low how? We don’t have somewhere to stay, don’t have any money, don’t have anything. What exactly are three moneyless teenagers supposed to do to survive?”

“We won’t just abandon you,” Luigi said earnestly. Mario shot him a quick look which he ignored, “We _won’t_. We have safe places all over the country, too; places we lie low and hang out. We can help you. We _want_ to help you. I promise.”

She didn’t have any reason to. But for some reason, she found herself convinced by these words. Trusting them. They’d made it this far. If this was all some scheme…well, it was very elaborate. It wasn’t like they had a better idea, anyway. Peach seemed to realise this, if the dawning defeat on her face was anything to go by. Daisy didn’t look entirely convinced, but Luigi paused before locking eyes with her and repeating, “I _promise._ ”

She held this gaze for several long seconds. He didn’t seem entirely comfortable with this prolonged eye contact, faint red dusting over his cheeks, but he held it steadily anyway until she finally broke away.

“…Okay,” She finally conceded, and a small but genuine smile split across Luigi’s face at her acceptance.

“I’m not entirely okay with this,” Peach admitted, “I mean, our college and jobs will kill us for being gone, but…”

“We were _kidnapped!_ ” Protested Daisy indignantly.

“ _But,”_ Peach went on loudly, _“_ I really don’t want to risk my family…or my friends. So, what do we need to do?”

Luigi and Mario shared a pondering look. It lasted a long moment, and Rosalina couldn’t help but notice that, while he wasn’t entirely okay with holding eye contact with any of them, Luigi could hold it with his brother unfalteringly. Even to the extent where they seemed to be communicating through it. A mark of how close they were, she supposed ; she did note that Mario spoke to Luigi more often than anyone else, from her limited experience. At last, Mario nodded jerkily at him and spoke up.

“…There’s a place on the outskirts of the city. It should only take us about an hour or so to walk it from here, belongs to a family we know pretty well. Well, a couple families actually, but point is, they’re good people. They can give us supplies, and a place to lay low for a couple days while we figure out what to do.”

“Oh great, more walking without shoes…that’ll be great fun,” Peach sighed. Mario shot her a sharp look.

“You got a better idea, Princess?” He challenged, and Peach frowned right back at him.

“No. I can handle it, _thanks_.” She replied irritably. Her arms folded as she met his look with her own challenging one.

“Good. We get up early then; sooner we’re there, the better if you ask me.”

“Don’t worry,” Chimed in Luigi, “I’m sure one of the Kong’s will have a couple spare pairs of shoes. If not, we’ll figure something out.”

She wasn’t sure if he was implying robbery, but she decided not to dwell on it too much.

“So we head for the Kong’s tomorrow, and we can figure out more from there ; it’s, uh, probably not too safe to talk too much here, anyway. Okay?”

They all murmured their assent before lights out, and Rosalina rolled over to face the wall, pulling her sheets tight around her and half praying that when she woke, this will all have been some terrible dream.

_

“I don’t _believe_ it!”

Everyone in the room jumped at the loud, piercing screech that echoed down the hallway. A light-blue haired boy looked up from the card pack he was shuffling and ran a hand through his mohawk, raising an eyebrow dryly.

“Geez. What crawled in her bed and died?” He asked, snorting. The younger green haired teen sitting opposite him, fiddling with some new little invention, snickered as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

“Like she ever needs a reason to be annoyed,” He replied, grinning and sticking out an arm to pre-emptively catch the bouncy ball that the rainbow haired boy across the room sent flying his direction. Said multicoloured nightmare of a boy looked up as his twin sent the ball back in his direction, catching it with ease and stuffing it in his pocket.

“Yeah,” He agreed, “It’s her permanent mood.” 

He stood up and crossed the room to flop onto the sofa next to his brother, who made a noise of annoyance as this action jostled him.

“Watch it, Lemmy,” He groused, pulling his arms closer to him as his hands flew across the metal, constructing an as of yet unknown gadget or gizmo.

“’Watch it, Lemmy,’” The boy parroted back in an exaggerated voice, snickering, “Don’t be _boring_ , Iggy. Tell him, Lar.”

Larry, the blue mohawk clad boy, looked back at them and remarked, “No chance. Leave me out of this. Last time I took sides, the other one put friggin’ worms in my bed.”

Both of the twins burst into laughter at this memory, as at last the door to the room flew open and crashed against the wall. A female stood in the doorway, hands on her pink cargo pant-clad waist. She had a firm scowl on her lipstick coated lips, and the pink polka dot bow atop her blonde hair done nothing to remove from the intimidation of this look. She flounced into the room, bangles on her wrist jingling rhythmically with each step, and dropped onto the couch next to Larry. Her arms folded dramatically as she repeated, “I don’t _believe_ this.”

“And what, oh sister dearest,” Drawled Larry, “Do you not believe?”

His sibling turned her glower to him.

“How could you _not_ know?” She demanded. He rolled his eyes, finally putting away his deck of cards.

“Know _what?”_ He repeated. She scoffed.

“I’m not surprised _you_ don’t know ; do you ever do anything but play those stupid games?” She sneered.

“Hey, those ‘stupid games’ won me nearly $500 scamming randoms on the street last week. But whatever, fine, don’t tell me. I’ll go find out myself,” He said, pushing himself to his feet. Just as he did, he heard the pounding of feet bolting down the hallway, and a small figure flung itself into the room.

“Dad’s prisoners escaped!” Burst out the nine-year-old boy who had just appeared, reddish brown eyes blown wide. His three half brothers turned to look at him in surprise, as his half sister’s scowl deepened.

“Is that true, Junior?” Asked Iggy, looking slightly wary, not that anyone could blame him. Their old man, the one parent that every one of the eight half siblings all shared, had a nasty temper when things didn’t go his way. He looked over at the girl.

“Is that what you were on about, Wendy?”

She huffed and nodded while Junior approached them, arms waving.

“Why’d you ask _her!_ Why didn’t ya trust _me!_ ” He fumed, stomping his feet. The others in the room all rolled their eyes at his inevitable tantrum, something very in character of him.

“Can it, Junior,” Larry said, ignoring the little boy’s screech of anger at this, “What happened? Don’t tell me…”

Wendy nodded, ugly expression on her face.

“It was _them,_ ” She spat. Lemmy looked between them, confused.

“Who?” He asked obliviously.

“Who else? Those stupid brothers really need to get a life,” Larry grumbled, dropping back onto the sofa. He made a noise of complaint as his youngest sibling pulled himself onto the couch, cramming himself into the very limited space between Larry and Wendy.

“Yeah, so dad’s _furious_ ,” Junior went on, seeming to have temporarily forgotten his temper tantrum, “’nd he say’s that he’s gonna definitely get those guys! He’ll beat them up and put them in prison, just like in comics! He’s the best!”

Larry and Wendy shared a quick glance over Junior’s head before looking over at Iggy, who nodded his silent agreement to say nothing. Less for Junior’s sake, and more for his at times equally naïve twin brother’s. Truthfully, their dad certainly did want to ‘get those guys’, but less to put them in a prison cell and more to put them in an unmarked grave. And they also didn’t point out that, comparatively speaking, none of them would exactly be the heroes from comic books; they’d more likely be the ones they put in the cells.

But none of them would tell Junior, or even Lemmy, that just yet. It was hard to maintain any kind of innocence around here, and they all seemed to have some unspoken agreement that, annoying as they could be, their youngest brothers should get to stay that way for as long as possible. Junior absolutely idolised their dad – unsurprising, considering he looked most like him out of them all and was certainly their dad’s favourite considering he had the fortune of being born from an actual relationship and not several one night stands with lower ranking gang members. That was where all his siblings came from. They all may have shared the same dad, but aside from the twins, none of them had the same mother. Junior didn’t quite know all that either, but he knew he was in some way superior to his brothers and sister, and could certainly be a little brat about it at times. And Lemmy, well…Lemmy was Lemmy. He wasn’t the most observant or intelligent of people at the best of times. Or, well, at any time. But he was their brother, and somehow none of them could bring themselves to point out the cruelties of the world around them, even though his twin brother was by now well aware of them.

Sidestepping that tricky part of the conversation with ease, Wendy spoke up again.

“What do you think daddy will _do?”_

“He’ll send out people to get them back, probably,” Iggy replied, “It was three pretty girls, wasn’t it? He won’t want to lose them.”

“Yeah, dad was going on about one of them so much I was starting to wonder whether we were gonna end up with another sibling from her,” Grumbled Larry, “Is that where Mort and Roy are? Out looking?”

“Roy ‘nd Mort are working out,” Junior interrupted, “They kicked me out when I tried to tell them. Morton said I was annoying.”

“I wonder why,” Wendy muttered, rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time, “What about the know-it-all? I’m surprised he’s not burst in here to show off the miraculous tracking device he invented just to find them.”

“Ludwig kicked _me_ out. He’s in his room, building some bs he didn’t want me a part of,” Chimed in Iggy, “I doubt he even knows yet.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me,” She said with a snort, “Cares more about his machines than his family, as per.”

“Yeah, that’s our Ludwig,” Agreed Larry, “I guess we better go get ready. Dad’ll be putting us all to work trying to find them. What a _pain._ ”

“It’ll be worth it, to finally bring those brothers down,” Said Wendy with a satisfied glint in her eye. Junior looked up hopefully.

“Can I come? I want to beat them up too!”

“No way, squirt. Grow a few more inches then ask again,” Larry said, all four of the older siblings having stood up.

“You too, Lems. Keep him occupied, we got this bro,” Iggy said, jabbing a thumb in Junior’s direction. His brother shrugged and brightly replied, “Sure,” pulling his ball back out and tossing it to the nine year old boy, who fumbled for it before looking up at them with a deep frown.

“I want to come,” He repeated, “I wanna show them nobody messes with the Koopa family!”

“We’ll show ‘em for you, Junior. Promise,” Larry replied, ruffling the little boy’s dark red hair, messing up his already messy short ponytail. The little boy looked only marginally more happy when he said this, but reluctantly nodded.

“…Dad’d be angry if I tried to go, anyway,” He mumbled, grasping the ball in both hands for a moment before stepping back to go play with Lemmy. Relieved to have avoided an inconvenient angry outburst, the three Koopa’s stepped out of the room.

“I’ll go fetch Roy and Morton; those boys will _never_ stop if we don’t make them. Larry, go talk to dad and ask what he wants us to do. Igs, see if you can pry Ludwig away from his precious machines,” Wendy instructed, turning left outside the room and heading in the direction of the gym. Grumbling lowly, Iggy also left, heading in the opposite direction toward their oldest sibling’s lab. Left alone in the hall, Larry pulled his cards back out his pocket and, quicker than lightning, shuffled them once more. He spread them in front of his face, a slow smirk finally forming on his lips. He wasn’t looking forward to facing his angry dad – who was terrifying enough on a good day with his appearance _alone_ \- sure, but still. It would be worth it. It was time to show those brothers that nobody could mess with their dad, their family, and get away with it.

Time to catch them a pair of brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay here, life kind of kept getting in the way of me! Thankfully, I feel back in the flow of things and should hopefully have the next chapter out in no more than a week. Nothing much happened on the Mario bros end (don't worry, the next chapter will be plenty eventful and will even let the characters start to get to know each other!), but on the Koopa end...  
> Well, that's more interesting.   
> It's pretty fun characterising eight characters who don't particularly have any sort of character apart from being Bowser's minions of sorts. I know they said that none of the Koopalings were Bowser's kids apart from Bowser Junior, but here I've just decided to make them his illegitimate kids, of sorts, with Junior being the only one for whom he held any real fondness for his mother. The other three will be introduced, in time, although it won't divert to the Koopa's point of view all that often really. I've read their wiki pages about 100 times over to create notes on them, I need a break from them for a few chapters.   
> As always, read, review, bookmark or kudos! I hope you enjoyed this and if you didn't, I promise the next chapter will be a lot more eventful and exciting and finally kickstart that darn friendship tag. (And maybe the romance tag...? Not quite yet! But soon!)   
> See you!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kong's are...a real interesting bunch, that much the three of them cannot deny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I accidentally took forever to upload so here's a chapter I actually like that is double the length of the others.

Peach was not really a morning person.

Sure, she was pretty used to rising early in order to make herself look presentable and make it to class on time. But that didn’t mean she enjoyed it. Without nursing a significant cup of coffee, she would almost definitely fall back asleep into her breakfast. If it were up to her, she would never have any reason to rise before 10am. She was strongly of the belief that she needed her beauty sleep at all costs.

So, given the fact that they had been up and out the hostel just after 6am, combined with the fact they had been walking for nearly two hours, topped with the fact she was doing it _in just socks…_

Well, needless to say, she was not in a particularly good mood.

She threw her head back and released a long drawn out groan, dragging her aching feet. They had been wandering down streets and alleyways for what seemed like days, long enough that the sun had continued to rise as the morning fog that had hung over the city lifted. Currently, their strange ragtag group (they had certainly gotten some strange looks from anyone else walking about) was walking down a quiet suburban street that frankly seemed no different from any other street they had traversed in the past forty minutes or so since leaving the main city. Every house looked virtually identical, with perfectly arranged flowers and neatly trimmed lawns being tended to by automatic sprinklers that left every blade of grass glistening with dew in the weak morning light.

“How much longer?” She asked, fighting to keep her voice from turning into a whine. Yoshi was skipping alongside her, seeming unphased by the miles they had walked, unlike Toad who was a few steps behind them, yawning into his fist every few minutes. Rosalina and Daisy were ahead by a few feet, with Rosie pausing every so often to massage her one foot that was sans a shoe. Mario was at the head of the group, walking without even hesitating as if he knew exactly where to go and scarcely looking back at the others. Luigi was somewhere between his brother and Peach’s friends, hands stuffed in his pockets in a lighthearted way and looking around with mild interest. It was him who looked back at the sound of Peach’s voice, and shot her a somewhat apologetic smile.

“Not much longer, a few more blocks,” He reassured. Mario spared a glance back and shot Peach a look through slightly narrowed eyes.

“I thought you could handle it, Princess,” He challenged. Peach glowered at him, unconsciously picking up her pace to catch up with her friends.

“I can,” She snapped, folding her arms as she heard Daisy snort.

“Uh oh. Now he’s done it. Peachy loves to prove people wrong.”

Which was true, she did, because everyone always assumed she was just some dumb, shallow blonde who only knew how to rely on her parent’s money. She had spent her entire life trying to prove that she was more than that, and she wasn’t going to take any crap from Mario, even if he had saved their lives.

…And even if he was crazy hot.

She hated herself for even thinking this, but really. She was eighteen, and she wasn’t blind. He _was_ good looking, in a rugged, stoic sort of way. It was just a shame she hated just about every other aspect of him so far. He was brave and pretty smart, of that much there was no room for doubt, but there was also little doubt that he hated _her_ for some reason. Daisy and Rosalina had received little to no conversation from him, and certainly no challenges or digs. It was just her who had received such treatment, and frankly she couldn’t figure out why. She had never done anything to him so far; he had no reason to be so crazy dismissive of her.

Luigi, ever the mediator, shot her another apologetic look. She waved him off, almost smiling back. Luigi, though, was a good guy from what she could tell. He didn’t seem like much of a people person, but not in the way his brother wasn’t one. He was just a more awkward person in general. She couldn’t back this up, since she had only known the boy for a day, but she got the feeling that he probably wasn’t the best at picking up social cues. She wouldn’t do it, because he was not her type at all, but she had the impression that a girl could probably flirt with him right to his face and he wouldn’t notice. He looked back at his brother, hesitated for a moment, before slowing his pace to fall into step with the girls.

“Hey, um, I really am sorry about Mario. He’s not usually so…well, he’s usually pretty gruff, I won’t lie, but he’s always in a worse mood when the Koopa’s are involved,” He said somewhat hesitantly, voice lower and eyes constantly flickering over to his brother’s back. Daisy frowned.

“I get that, but it’s still no reason to take it out on us. Especially Peach,” She replied, and Luigi cringed, nodding guiltily.

“I know. I love my brother, and he’s a really good guy, he just…he can take some warming up to, and he sometimes is kinda quick to judge people. I think he…I think he probably thinks you’re just a stereotypical girl who doesn’t want to work hard. N-not that you are!” He hastened to add, seeing Peach’s offended look, “It’s just what he thinks…I think. You just have to give him some time, he’ll warm up to you.”

“I don’t care,” She sniffed, knowing that she probably looked every inch the stuck up girl Mario thought she was but not caring, “I don’t have to prove anything to him. If he wants to change his mind and apologise later, he can.”

“He will,” Luigi assured quickly, before swerving the subject completely, “We’re just about there now, by the way.”

“How do you know?” Daisy grumbled, “All these houses look exactly the freaking same.”

Luigi and Toad exchanged vaguely amused glances, and Yoshi giggled as though he’d heard a particularly funny joke.

“What?” Rosalina asked, confusion written on her face. Yoshi continued to giggle.

“You’ll see,” He chimed, voice as close to conspiratorial as a nine year old can be.

A moment later, they did in fact see. And suddenly their amusement made perfect sense.

Perched between two utterly ordinary homes was what could only be described as the most out of place building Peach could imagine. It was dark brown and tall, oddly shaped in a way that suggested extra rooms had been added on randomly with little thought for what the house would look like on the exterior. It seemed lopsided in a way, and the paint covering it was peeling in several places. Their lawn was less neat than the others around it, the grass uneven and a flagpole stabbed into the ground, a red flag with a yellow banana on it fluttering in the weak morning breeze. One of the windows near the top was haphazardly boarded up, and under closer examination she saw that the sides of the building had what seemed to be spray-painted graffiti on them, displaying names such as “Dixie” and “Diddy” with varying insults or compliments after them. As they ventured up the path, she saw that a crooked handmade wooden sign was nailed next to the worn, scratched door, emblazoned with “The Kongz” in a scrawled, messy font.

Mario approached this door, raised his fist, and knocked rapidly in a strange pattern that Peach wouldn’t have been able to replicate if she tried. For a moment, all was quiet.

And then there came the vague sound of thudding footsteps, the door was flung open, and they were greeted by a widely grinning, bright eyed teenage boy.

“Mario! Luigi! Oh man, it’s been way too long!” He cried, launching himself to wrap his long, gangly arms around both brothers in an enthusiastic greeting. He seemed to be a little younger than Peach was, but probably not by much. He was a tall and lanky boy, very skinny, with a very freckled tan face, and a red cap perched atop his long, straight brown hair which brushed his shoulders. He was dressed head to toe in red, t-shirt, shorts and shoes alike. His brown eyes remained jolly as he released the brothers and greeted Yoshi and Toad with similar cheerfulness, before his eyes caught the girls standing a few feet away, watching somewhat wearily.

His face lit up.

“Oh and woah, you brought _girls_! Cute girls! Way to go guys, here I was thinkin’ you were gonna be hermits forever!” He cried enthusiastically, only to yelp as Mario reached over effortlessly to punch him in the arm.

“I’m telling Dixie you called other girls cute,” He said flatly. Diddy’s eyes went wide in panic.

“Wait, no, I didn’t mean it like-“

“He’s been what?” A voice asked sweetly, as a teenaged girl came wandering down the hallway and leaned against the doorframe, eyebrow raised. She was a darker skinned girl, with stunningly bright emerald green eyes and a long blonde ponytail flowing down her back. She wore a pink cropped top, showing off her slim stomach, and denim shorts. She crossed her toned arms as she shot the boy a slightly unamused look, before brightening as she looked over at the others.

“Oh, wow, hey you guys! Long time no see! I didn’t know you were coming round!”

Mario rubbed the back of his neck, looking faintly sheepish now. It was the most emotion she had actually seen from him thus far.

“Yeah, sorry Dixie. Something came up, like you can see-“ He gestured without looking at the girls behind him, “-and we were kind of too distracted to think to call ahead.”

“It’s all good,” The girl reassured easily, hopping down the step to meet the girls. She shot them a stunning smile.

“Hi, I’m Dixie,” She said, “Nice to meetcha. This goofball over here is my boyfriend, Diddy.”

The tall boy waved at them but stayed quiet for the moment, presumably trying to avoid invoking his girlfriend’s wrath.

The three of them introduced themselves, and Yoshi hugged Dixie brightly in greeting, with her also dragging Toad in for one, before the two of them stood aside and allowed them entry to the house. It was much cosier on the inside, with warm lighting and plenty of photos plastered on the wall, as well as a worn out welcome mat with a picture of a monkey on it.

“It’ll be _so_ good to have girls around for once,” Dixie said as she closed the door behind them, “I love my guys, I really do, but seriously! I just need other sensible company once in a while!”

“I’m sensible!” Diddy protested, and Dixie rolled her eyes indulgently.

“Sure, you are,” She agreed easily, shooting him a somewhat teasing wink before facing the group again.

“Well, most of you know this, but for you girls that don’t, we’re the Kong’s. We’re sort of like a gang, but it’s really more just a gathering of a couple different families who’ve all banded together under the same name. We’re not all actually related. That’d be weird.” She wrinkled her nose at the thought. “But anyway, we’re not a bad kinda gang, we’re more like an anti-gang I guess you could call us. We fight back against gangs like the Koopa’s as much as we can, to try and make a difference.”

“And they’re really nice and cool! You should see how big Donkey is! He’s huuuuge!” Yoshi cried, bouncing on the spot and coming dangerously close to knocking a lamp over.

“Easy Yoshi,” Cautioned Mario, reaching down to lightly grasp the little boy’s shoulder and still him, “It’s not our house, remember?”

His voice was notably softer when speaking to the younger boy. She supposed even a notorious grump like Mario couldn’t resist the charms of the ray of sunshine that was Yoshi.

“It may as well be, considering how often you take it over for weeks on end,” Diddy chimed in, grinning. His smile was wide and toothy, and like Yoshi’s laughter was slightly contagious. It made Peach want to smile too.

''Heh...sorry, Dixie. Easiest home base around here, and we needed somewhere to crash, especially with the girls,'' Luigi said, gesturing to the three awkwardly huddled in the centre of the narrow hallway.

''Oh, no problem! We love your visits, right, Did?'' Dixie asked, reaching out and easily lacing her fingers with Diddy's. The boy reacted seemingly without thinking, squeezing her hand briefly, and Peach saw the quickest flash of fondness on Dixie’s face as her eyes flickered to him out the corner of her eye before refocusing on their group.

Peach’s heart ached faintly at seeing this, she would admit. She had been in plenty of relationships, sure. But none of them had ever come that easily, that naturally. None of them had really been in the relationship for more than her looks and her money. Seeing these two kids, who could only have been a year or so younger than her, in a relationship that just seemed to _work_ from what brief thing’s she had seen…it sent a sting of bitterness through her. She had slightly given up on the dating game, considering she was clearly a hopeless case who nobody would ever want for anything more than a trophy, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t…long for love, sometimes.

''Eh? Yeah, sure. Brings a bit a fun to life around here,” Diddy agreed, his voice snapping Peach out of her short pity party.

Dixie looked them all over, openly curious, before a sudden look of realisation dawned on her face.

''Oh!'' She cried suddenly, ''Clothes!''

Diddy raised a lone eyebrow, sending his girlfriend an odd look.

''Clothes?'' He repeated blankly, ''What about 'em?''

Dixie sighed in exasperation.

“Diddy. Seriously. Look at them! They look like they've been dragged backwards through bushes! No offence,” She added, looking somewhat sheepish and directing this part directly to the girls, “You’re all gorgeous, but if I were you I’d want a wardrobe change by now.”

''No bushes,'' Remarked Mario, steering the conversation back on track, ''Just the backstreets of Boston.”

''Even worse! We need to get them washed up and changed!'' Protested Dixie, folding her arms with a firm look.

Diddy sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Since when do you care so much about how people look...? But yeah. Sure, you're right, Dix.”

“Of course I am,” She jokingly replied, nudging the boy with an easy smile. She turned back to the group.

“Well, we only have two showers here, so you're gonna have to wait and take turns, unless anyone feels like sharing.”

She giggled at the looks on their faces, which varied from shock to disgust to sheer embarrassment.

“I’m kidding,” She reassured, but her eyes remained sparkling with amusement and Diddy was still snickering beside her. She looked them over, brows crinkling thoughtfully.

“Well, you three should be able to wear some of my clothes, no problem,” She decided at last, “You're similar enough in height to each other, and to me. We probably have some spare shoes lying around, too. Yoshi, we should still have some of Tiny's old stuff, so you're set, too.”

The little boy beamed his agreement, but it suddenly faded as he tugged at the drawstring of his hoodie.

“…But I don't want to take it off,” He said with a pout, hugging his small arms to himself as if to protect the outfit from getting taken away.

Mario and Luigi exchanged glances, the former rolling his eyes in exasperation.

“Not again...” He groaned.

“Yoshi, come on,” Coaxed Luigi hopefully, “You've been wearing that for weeks on end. Don’t you want a change?”

“No.”

It was stated so straightforward, borderline flatly, that Peach couldn’t help the small snort that escaped her throat. Toad closed his eyes in exasperation, looking ready to turn around and leave the house, as Mario stepped up to try again.

“Look, Yoshi, you have to change outfit at some point. You don’t see the three of us wearing the same outfit for weeks on end, do you?” He pointed out, nodding to Luigi and Toad. Yoshi’s bottom lip remained out in a firm pout.

“You wear your hats all the time,” He grumbled.

“Hats, Yoshi, hats! Not whole outfits! Wearing the same clothes for weeks is gross!” He snapped, tone vexed. Dixie cleared her throat and sent them a look that clearly said ‘I got this’.

She dropped Diddy’s hand and crouched down to Yoshi’s level.

“Come on, Yoshi, it's alright. We'll get it washed all clean for you, and you just have to wait till it’s all dry, and you can come back and get it right away. I bet you’ll love some of Tiny’s other stuff.” She assured the dinosaur-clad boy. He looked up at her hopefully.

“...You promise I'll get it back?” He asked hesitantly, peering at her with those wide blue eyes of his.

She winked.

“Totally promise. You trust me, right?”

It seemed he did, because he relaxed and finally nodded.

“Kay. I'll wear Tiny's stuff,” He relented. Luigi mouthed a thank you to Dixie over his head.

“As for you, Toad, you and Diddy are about the same size if you need spare, I think. Close enough, I mean his arms and legs might be a little long, but it can't be helped. He's a freak of nature,” She said, teasing glint in her eyes.

Without even looking her way, Diddy reached an arm across and pinched her exposed stomach hard. Dixie responded by stomping on his foot, which probably didn't hurt that much since they were both bare feet, but it was the thought that counted.

“I have some spare clothes with me, but thanks, I might need them,” Toad said, smiling a small smile in her direction.

“And your emergency stash is as you left it, you two, so knock yourselves out.”

This was directed toward the two brothers, who nodded in understanding. With all the clothing arrangements sorted easily enough, Dixie eyed them over thoughtfully.

“…I sure hope you guys bring some fun around, at least. It's been so boring around here lately – almost everyone is busy with other things, and Donkey is always out, so usually it's just me, Diddy and Kranky,” She sighed, before brightening.

“But, life with you guys around is pretty rarely quiet, so I’m sure it will be. Besides, there’s more of you now! This’ll be fun!”

“Sure, Dixie,” Mario agreed indulgently, “But those showers…?”

“Oh, right, duh. Here, I’ll show you…”

___

Daisy swiped her forearm across the fogged up surface of the mirror, examining her reflection critically.

She had almost given herself a heart attack seeing her reflection before her shower. Dirty, sweaty, greasy haired and baggy-eyed. Geez. She wasn’t someone who overly cared about her appearance, but even she would readily admit that she looked slightly like a walking corpse.

She looked much more human now, though. Her cheeks had a healthy redness to them from the warm water, and her hair hang in damp waves down her back, having been towel-dried as much as possible. She was now clad in a thick but flexible pair of jeggings that Dixie insisted she never wore, a green long sleeved t-shirt and a light orange jacket, thin but durable and comfortable. The jacket was necessary as the house was slightly breezy – apparently Diddy had messed up the central heating when he was throwing a ball around a couple weeks ago.

She gathered her dirty clothes and wet towel in her arms before exiting the bathroom. A few rooms away, she could still hear water running, so she assumed Mario was still in his shower. Peach and Yoshi had ended up with first dibs for the showers, and she shot Toad a small grin as the younger male passed her to go and take his turn to wash up. Dixie met her further down the hall and took the bundle from Daisy’s arms.

“I’ll drop these down at the laundry room for you – normally it’s Cranky’s job but he usually takes about a million years, if he even makes it at all.”

Daisy handed them over without argument, sending a grateful smile her way, before proceeding down the corridor and descending the creaky, crooked staircase to reach the lounge area. She liked the Kong’s house a lot. It was a little ragged, practically radiating chaotic energy, with messy rooms and chipped paint. But it was very homely. Everything was painted and decorated in bright, warm shades. It reminded Daisy a little of her little home back in Arizona – wild but cozy, always buzzing with energy even though it was just Daisy and her dad that lived there.

As it usually did, thinking about her dad made Daisy’s heart twinge slightly. She always missed him when she was away ; try as she might to deny it, she was a daddy’s girl, through and through. Her dad was all she had growing up. It was just the two of them in their little, worn down house. But he loved her, and he raised her well enough to make up for the absence of a mom. The two of them had always bonded over sports and other such hobbies (they had been an unbeatable combo at daddy-daughter sports days) and though he had to work long hours to make ends meet, they had always been very close. She hated living far away from her dad, but it was necessary. She would see him at winter break and over summer, anyway.

Of course, now she was further from him than she ever had been before. Her heart stuttered, as did her steps, as this thought occurred to her, before she forcefully put it aside. It was fine. She was fine.

_Everything is fine._

She entered the lounge area, where the others were sat comfortably on the chairs within. Rosalina and Peach were both nursing a box of blister plasters, wincing as they applied them to their damaged feet. Luigi was perched on the edge of the sofa, Diddy sprawled a few feet away from him, watching Yoshi with a tiny, amused smile as the little boy raced himself around the coffee table, sans his trademark dinosaur jumper but now clad in a cozy-looking brown one. The kid looked up as Daisy entered, and offered an energetic, “Hi Daisy!” as greeting.

She waved in response, crossing the room and dodging the bullet-like child to drop herself onto an armchair. Her own smile grew despite herself as she watched Yoshi.

“He really isn’t tired out from the walk this morning at all, huh?” She mused, mostly to herself. But Luigi and Diddy still looked over at her, nonetheless.

“Yeah, it, uh, takes more than a two hour walk to tire him out, I’m afraid,” Luigi replied, smile somewhat lopsided. His attention was then caught by something by the door. This something turned out to be Mario, hair still dripping wet, walking into the room and dropping down next to his brother.

“Shower’s yours,” He offered Luigi, who nodded in understanding, pushing himself to his feet.

“Try not to let Yoshi break anything while I’m gone?” He requested. Mario’s face split into a rare grin.

“Don’t ask the impossible, bro.”

Rolling his eyes, Luigi departed for the shower. Rosalina and Peach crossed the room to drop into chairs next to Daisy, massaging their feet.

“These blisters will take forever to go away,” Rosalina noted, grimacing as she pulled on socks to cover up.

“Yeah, but I’d rather have a couple blisters to deal with than ever have to walk miles with no shoes on,” Peach replied, curling herself comfortably on the chair.

“You say that like it’s the first time. Remember after the Halloween party last semester?” Daisy asked, snickering. Peach’s eyes lit up in recollection, and laughter burst from her throat too.

“Oh gosh, yes! What happened to our shoes again that night?”

“Daisy got dared to drink punch out of her shoe, and you insisted on walking home without your shoes as well as a show of solidarity,” Rosalina recalled, lips twitching. Rosalina wasn’t much for parties, and was not really a drinker even if she did go to one. This would be fine, but it did unfortunately mean that she was prone to remember every little embarrassing thing Daisy or Peach done whilst under the influence of alcohol.

“That’s real friendship, right there,” Daisy noted, nudging Peach’s leg with her foot, “Walking a half hour without shoes just so your roommate won’t look like an idiot alone.”

“I put up with so much living with you,” Peach lamented, but her eyes were warm as she swatted Daisy’s foot away from herself. It was then that Dixie entered the room, arms empty of laundry. However, instead of making her way over to her boyfriend as Daisy expected, she locked onto the three of them and made a beeline over, perching herself on the arm of the sofa to face them.

“Hey! I don’t think Toad will be much longer, so you’ll get your turn soon! Sorry you ended up dead last,” She said, directing this at Rosalina who waved her off.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind, really,” She assured. She had volunteered to go last to avoid arguments, after all. Her and Luigi had bickered about it for a moment (if it can be called bickering when it’s done with unbelievable levels of politeness and awkwardness), before Mario had interjected and said since Rosalina had volunteered first, she could go last if it would really make her happy.

They really are the only people who would have an argument trying to out-polite each other, of all things.

Toad returned a few minutes later, allowing Rosalina to depart at last for her shower. When both she and Luigi had returned, the room had settled, with the boys chatting in one corner having claimed the sofa while the girls were sprawled over chairs the opposite side of the room. Daisy discovered that Dixie was pretty fun to talk to. She was chatty and cheerful, brimming with positivity and energy, and threw herself at any conversation topic with enthusiasm.

“So tell me _all about college,_ ” She gushed, propping her face atop her hands with interest, “It always sounds like a blast when I hear people talk about it.”

“As much of a blast as waking up at 7am to face a half hour walk to class ever is,” Daisy said dryly.

“Oh, come on! Apart from that! The living alone and the parties and the _boys_! It must be exciting!” Dixie protested. Peach laughed.

“Yeah, that part is fun. It’s always great being able to just go out for lunch between classes.”

“Or go home for a nap between classes,” Rosalina added, smiling. Daisy scoffed.

“Yeah, just cause YOU can do that, Miss-I-Have-A-Four-Hour-Break-Between-Classes.”

“Yeah, Rosie, you’re the only person I know who goes home between classes and actually _comes back_ for their later classes,” Peach said.

“Couldn’t be me. My willpower is simply not strong enough,” Daisy said solemnly, shaking her said. Dixie giggled at their interaction.

“Okay, and you can’t tell me college isn’t _full_ of cute guys! You guys are all super pretty! You gotta have boyfriends!” She said, leaning forward eagerly. The three older girls exchanged vaguely amused glances. None of them _did_ have boyfriends currently, as it so happened.

“Afraid not. College boys are still at the surface of it…well, _boys._ Most of them are too immature for their own good,” Peach said, sighing, “They’re good for the odd date and stuff, but none of them are really dating material.”

“I guess I kinda expected that aspect to change when they left high school,” Dixie remarked, rolling her eyes as she looked over with barely-concealed fondness at Diddy, who was gesturing vibrantly as he told the boys a story.

“Yeah, it doesn’t,” Daisy said, “But what about you and Diddy? How long have you been dating for?”

Dixie leaned back to ponder this question, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“…It must be coming up on a year now. But, to be honest, he and I have been friends our whole lives, so it’s not really been that big of a change, y’know? We’ve always hung out together and basically lived together, so we’re not like your average couple.”

“That’s cute,” Peach replied, vaguely wistful look on her face, “Wish I had a convenient childhood friend to fall in love with me.”

“It would sure make things easier,” Rosalina said, laughing softly.

Out of the three of them, Rosalina was least involved in the dating scene. It surprised some people, as they expected Daisy, the tomboy, to want nothing to do with romance (or they stereotyped that her somewhat unfeminine nature meant that it wasn’t _boys_ she was interested in). And its true that she didn’t exactly seek it, but she won’t actively avoid it on the infrequent occasions she and someone share a mutual interest. Rosalina somewhat prefers to keep to herself, though. Boys have plenty of interest in her, sure – blue eyed blonde girl, the book could write itself – but she rarely ever returned it. So far as Daisy knew, she had only had one somewhat casual boyfriend in her life, and had been on the odd dates scattered across months without any action. Which was fine, she guessed. It was just how Rosie was. She was still a pro wingwoman, and she still liked to hear about other people’s dating lives; she just didn’t seem to have any interest in getting one herself.

A somewhat sly look shot across Dixie’s face. She glanced back over to the boys, before looking back and leaning in closer to the girls.

“Well,” She whispered conspiratorially, “There’s always Mario and Luigi.”

She burst out laughing at the looks on their faces. Peach looked incredulous, Rosalina a combination of amused and slightly nauseous, and Daisy could tell her own face had twisted into a seriously sceptical one.

Talking about guys of all things while they were hiding out in a safehouse on the run was easily the most surreal thing Daisy had experienced in her life. But still…

Luigi, at least, seemed like a nice enough guy, maybe one she could have learned to like under different circumstances. But, well, they were literally on the run from a hostile gang, and Mario and Luigi were their means of survival. She didn’t get the feeling it was the sort of place where romance could blossom. Besides, he was crazy awkward and didn’t seem to like being alone with any of the girls and speaking to them without someone else around. He really was sort of like a kicked puppy.

And Mario…well. The stoic, grumpy type was always more Peach’s thing. She had little doubt again that if the circumstances were different, Peach would be seriously into Mario. But thankfully, she had a little thing called self-respect, and seemed to know not to give the time of day to him unless he could start treating her with said respect. It’s not like she could ever picture Mario in a relationship, anyway – she could barely even picture the guy smiling, never mind expressing a romantic fondness for a person.

“I’m kidding,” Dixie assured, still giggling and attempting to muffle it into her fist so that the boys wouldn’t look over, “But still, it’ll be good to have you guys around. Those two need to talk to more girls – especially Luigi. Their experiences in that area are seriously limited.”

“Oh? Have neither of them dated before?” Peach inquired, propping her hands under her chin as she tilted her head slightly in curiosity. She sounded slightly surprised, not that Daisy could blame her. Luigi and Mario were a year or two older than them, respectively, with Luigi being nineteen and Mario twenty. It was pretty rare to meet two guys who had gotten to that stage and had no dating experience.

“Mm. Mario has. He dated this girl Pauline for like five, six months a couple years back. But poor Weeg – I don’t think he’s so much as kissed a girl.”

“Really? I mean, he’s not exactly my type, but he’s a pretty cute guy, and he seems super sweet,” Peach noted, blinking in surprise. Dixie hummed, thoughtful frown on her face as she looked back at the boys and ensured her voice stayed quiet.

“Well, you know that saying, nice guys finish last? That is…pretty applicable in poor Luigi’s case. Any girl he meets also meets Mario at the same time, and I guess his whole stocky, broody thing does something for them that Luigi’s taller, dorky thing doesn’t. It’s a shame really, I mean you’re right about him being a total sweetheart. If I didn’t have my goofball, I’d have at least thought about it.”

So she was right, then. Luigi was not very good at talking to girls outside any urgent situation. He seemed to get flustered by them pretty easily, as their few attempts to chat to him on the walk this morning showed. If he had something to say, he could say it, but small talk didn’t quite seem like his kind of area.

Hey, Daisy could respect that. It had taken her years to become good at talking to just about anyone – she preferred to express herself through action if at all possible.

Their conversation came to an abrupt halt when Mario clapped loudly to get their attention. They looked over, twisting in their seats to face them as the boys moved closer so they were all huddled together.

“So,” Mario said, straight to business, “Where is DK, anyway, you guys?”

“Donkey? He’s still out on a mission,” Dixie replied, sending him a slightly apologetic smile, “He’ll be gone another couple days, probably, he’s out of state.”

“Kremling gang are causing trouble down in New Jersey again,” Diddy chimed in, shaking his head, “What d’you need him for, anyway? You can stay here for a bit no problem whether he’s around or not.”

“I know. But he’s usually really good for gathering intel, and if we’re gonna keep these girls safe, we’re gonna need a lot of that,” Mario replied. Daisy didn’t know whether to feel mildly touched at these words or not, considering he hadn’t seemed to want to help them in the first place last night.

But she was grateful that he was going out of his way to help them now. Who knows what they’d have done abandoned in Boston – gotten kidnapped straight away again, probably. But still, that didn’t mean she had to like the boy.

“Yeah, we can’t help you much there,” Diddy admitted.

“Donkey still doesn’t let us get too involved with field work kind of stuff,” Dixie agreed, rolling her eyes, “He needs to quit being so overprotective of us.”

“But hey, like we said, you guys can hang out here till he’s back. As long as you want. It’ll be good to have other people around; it’s just us and Cranky right now, and, well, Cranky doesn’t do much these days,” Diddy confided, looking in the direction of the staircase.

Before Daisy could question who Cranky was, Luigi had kept the conversation going.

“So, how’s the sleeping arrangement gonna work? I know we’re normally just parked in here, but, uh, will we all fit with the girls here too?”

The lounge was a large room, with a lot of floor space. If the two sofas were used, it could easily fit four or five people in it. But there was seven of them. Dixie shrugged.

“Sure. If we just move the coffee table out the room, toss down the air mattresses and blankets, and boom, one big slumber party!”

She stood up and approached said table, kicking Diddy as she passed him, “C’mon, help me move this, babe. C’mon, get up! Okay, great. Okay, on three…one…two…”

_

“It really is like a slumber party,” Rosalina noted, small smile playing about her lips. Peach flopped back onto the air mattress she would be sharing with her.

“Yeah, these days, my slumber parties involve a few more cocktails and a few less hyperactive nine year olds,” She replied dryly, watching Toad attempt to wrestle a squirming Yoshi down onto his own air bed. Daisy snickered.

“Yeah, that is a surprise.”

Night had fallen surprisingly quickly, with their ragtag group having passed the day setting the lounge up to sleep and getting to know Dixie and Diddy a little more. After several fierce rounds of rock paper scissors, Daisy and Toad had managed to bag the sofas, at least for tonight. She was definitely more comfortable than she had been in the slightly seedy hostel last night, and she had a significantly lower chance of getting bit by something. The couch was a cozy, slightly worn fabric and the blankets thick and woollen as she burrowed beneath them. Peach and Rosie did not seem phased about sharing a mattress – the three of them had slept in the same bed several times before, anyway. As they all settled down to rest, Dixie and Diddy having departed for their bedrooms several minutes earlier, she found herself quite looking forward to a long night’s rest after one very, very long day. But as their gradual chatter quietened, and everyone in the room fell silent and down into a slumber, Daisy found herself staring sleeplessly at the ceiling, exhausted but unable to fall asleep, for what must have been nearly an hour.

Her mind was running a million miles an hour, as the thoughts she had tried to push away over the past two days came rushing to the forefront of her mind without anyone or anything else to distract her. This whole situation was still…a lot. The chaos of the day, and meeting some new friends, had given some levity to the situation, but she still felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Her chest felt like there was something heavy sitting on it. She was supposed to have had a shift this morning, followed by afternoon classes. When she hadn’t shown up to either, and neither had Rosie or Peach, would their absence have been noted? Would people have noticed by now that they were gone? If people knew they were missing, would they have called her dad? Was he sitting at home right now, staring down his phone, imploring her to call him? She usually text him every day – she could just picture her phone, abandoned somewhere back in that shady gang den, vibrating every so often with concerned texts and calls from him.

Her heart ached as she pictured his kind, worried blue eyes, gritting her teeth as her own eyes filled with tears. She blinked rapidly, sniffing as quietly as possible so as to alert nobody. She realised pretty quickly that this was one crying session she was not going to be able to hold back, so she pushed herself up onto her elbows and twisted to put her feet on the ground. She stood carefully and slowly, stepping delicately over Peach’s sprawled limbs and Rosalina’s curled body, as well as Luigi’s still body, lying on his side, chest rising and falling steadily.

As she left the room, she failed to notice his sleepy blue eyes follow her, before he closed them again and let his head fall back to the mattress.

When she made it to the bathroom, it was like a tsunami was unleashed, all the emotions she had held back for several days to be strong for her friends suddenly too much to bear. She barely had time to close and lock the door behind her before she slid down to the floor, tears flooding down her cheeks, and by the time she had curled her legs up to her chest her body was quaking with sobs she tried to stifle.

This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t right. She wanted to go _home._ She wanted her dad. She wanted to go back to her life at college, with her only worries being maintaining her track record and GPA. She was _eighteen_ , she shouldn’t be running for her life and hiding in some strangers home with even more strangers for company, wondering when any sense of normality would return. She just…she just wanted her _life_ back.

Several minutes passed with her on the cool bathroom floor, back against the door, the coldness of it helping to ground her slightly. She was thankfully pretty adept at controlling her breathing – she had to be, as into sports as she was – but she still could not stop the sobs wracking her frame. Maybe because she knew soon she would have to go back to being strong for Peach and Rosie, because it was what they expected. Or maybe she had just been holding in a lot of stress even before she had been _literally kidnapped._ Either way, this breakdown didn’t seem set to stop anytime soon…

Or so she thought, until there came a tentative knock on the door.

It startled the living daylights out of her, enough that she choked on the sob she had been releasing at that exact moment, coughs spluttering out of her. The knock was then accompanied by a slightly timid voice.

“Um…Daisy? Are…you okay?”

It was Luigi, she realised after a moment, and she cursed herself for not having properly checked that everyone was asleep when she had left the lounge. She quickly swiped at her eyes, swallowing deeply to stop any more deep sobs from escaping her, but tears still trickled down her cheeks nonetheless. She took a moment to ensure her voice would be steady, before she replied.

“Y-yeah,” She said, and she cringed internally as it came out audibly croaky and shaky, followed by a deep sniff.

“O-oh. Just cause…well, it just sounded a little like…it sounded like you were upset.”

There was that fumbling over his words when he spoke to a girl again. She heard him shift about uncomfortably outside, before he spoke again.

“Do, um, do you…want me to get Peach or Rosalina?”

“No!”

She probably surprised him even more than herself at that loud outburst, but she knew that she meant it with every inch of her being.

“No,” She repeated, “Don’t. They’ll just worry. I’m fine.”

“Oh. Okay. Um, do you…want me to go?”

She sighed out slowly, letting her head fall back against the door with a light thud.

“…I don’t care. Stay if you want.”

She didn’t hear him move, but then she didn’t really hear anything at all. She remained still, eyes closed wearily, before she heard a light impact of what was probably his back as he leaned back against the bathroom door.

“So, um…I know you don’t like or know me very much, but, uh…What’s wrong?”

She didn’t offer a response for several moments. The silence of the late-night air was piercing, before she at last broke it again.

“…I never said I don’t like you.”

“Oh. I just, I thought, well… _Mario._ ”

He said his brother’s name as if it explained everything, and frankly right then it did. She almost smiled. Almost.

“I’m not really his biggest fan, yeah, but you seem okay. Not a total freak, which is, y’know,” She sniffed again, “Always a plus.”

She heard him huff out a slight laugh.

“I might be a freak. Give it time, you barely know me.”

She _did_ smile now, to her slight surprise. It was equally surprising to hear him make a joke with her; she didn’t think he would be comfortable enough to do that, especially without some kind of stammer. Maybe it was some way of trying to cheer her up.

“I guess we’ll see. After all, we’ll be around each other…a whole lot…I guess.”

Her voice became slightly distant at these words, her chest constricting again as she remembered the cause of her upset in the first place. She squeezed her eyes closed again, pressing her head against her knees and breathing in slowly. He knocked again lightly, somewhat uncertainly.

“…Are you okay?”

She laughed humourlessly, hugging her knees tight enough to hurt.

“Not really.”

“Oh.”

She heard another small noise, and realised with a start that she recognised it, having just make it herself several minutes earlier; the sound of him sliding down the door until he was against it on the floor.

“Can I…do anything?” He ventured somewhat warily. She shook her head, despite knowing he couldn’t see it.

“Not unless you can invent a time machine or something.”

“Uh, yeah, afraid that I can’t do.”

It was sweet of him to offer to help, she realised retroactively. I mean, this boy barely knew her, and he was one of the most awkward people she had met in a long time, but here he was, on the floor of a hallway, trying to cheer up a virtual stranger who he was already doing so much to help. He really was a nice guy, just like Dixie had said.

She let her head fall back against the door again, and took a peculiar sense of comfort in picturing him in the exact same position on just the other side of the door. They were probably virtually back to back right now; the door was thin enough that she could faintly hear his steady breathing. It was all unusually comforting. Normally, she would be mortified that someone had seen her so vulnerable, but…there was just something trustworthy about Luigi. She knew, subconsciously, that he would never use this moment to mock her. He was far too earnest for that. He was really here because he just wanted her to be okay, and she finally accepted for the first time that she could really see herself being friends with this guy.

A tiny smile twitched onto her face again, and she wiped away the remnants of her tears, taking a steadying breath to make sure that was really the end of them. Luigi remained quiet on the other side of the door, and they stayed like that for several minutes, until she dared start speaking again.

“…Sorry. I’m okay now. You can go if you want.”

“S’okay. Mario snores a lot anyway, I, uh, needed a break, y’know?”

A small laugh bubbled from her throat.

“I don’t think this was a very relaxing break for you, somehow.”

“Maybe not. But I...I don’t mind. Really.”

Somehow, for some reason, she believed him.

“I just…miss home. I know, it’s dumb, right? I mean, we were there like, two days ago, right? But…I don’t know. Still.”

He shifted on the other side, maybe moving into a more comfortable position.

“No, I, uh, I get you. It makes sense. I mean, a lot’s happened lately, and, y’know, you can’t go back anytime soon.” There was a beat of silence. “Sorry, I…I shouldn’t have said that, should I?”

She laughed again, too exhausted to care.

“It’s fine.”

“…I know it doesn’t really mean much, coming from me, but…I really do promise. We want to help you. R-really.”

His voice was so earnest, so genuine. She placed her hands palm down on the ground, and allowed herself the briefest moment to entertain whether his hands would have been close to hers, were there not a door separating the two of them, before she firmly banished this line of thought.

And she allowed herself to whisper the words that she had spent all day doubting slightly, but now realised to be true.

“…I believe you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Sorry again for the delay (I am never going to promise to update by a certain time again) but my life has been, for lack of a better term, a clusterfuck the past few weeks. Online uni is murdering me, mind, body and soul (who can relate?), and I've recently got a new job which is v/ exciting but has also been slightly time consuming haha.  
> Still, I actually enjoyed writing some of the character interactions this chapter, what do you think? You see at the end, and will see in the coming chapters, them starting to actually talk amongst each other and not just boys and girls strictly. It'll be fun!  
> As always, please review to motivate me and give me any feedback or ideas you have, I'd be happy to hear them! Thanks for all the super nice review's so far! :) Have a great rest of your week guys, and I'll see you when I see you!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donkey Kong is one big guy, Cranky is one...well, Cranky guy, and Mario and Luigi have a somewhat overdue talk.

Living at the Kong’s house was absolutely chaotic, and Daisy loved every second of it.

Considering its only inhabitants, apart from Cranky who had yet to make an appearance, were nine young people ranging from ages nine to twenty, it was, needless to say, very _very_ loud at all times. Yoshi had proven himself to be quite the ball of energy, and Daisy had taken it upon herself to be his playmate when she could. His big, pleading eyes were pretty hard to say no to. Diddy was by no means a quiet person, and would frequently join them in these games, or could otherwise be heard talking loudly and enthusiastically, to whomever happened to be nearby at that moment. He and Dixie had no qualms about yelling for each other from opposite ends of the house, even if it was about utterly mundane things such as the location of her hairbrush. On top of this, you can’t place nine kids in such proximity for days on end, and not expect spontaneous, frequent bickering.

Particularly when two of these people are named Peach and Mario.

They had all quickly come to realise, whilst getting to know one another, that Mario and Peach were, unfortunately, both the same level of stubborn; that is, incredibly. And as such, it did not take very much at all for them to dissolve into an argument, especially when Luigi or Rosalina were not around to play mediator. The saying ‘Unstoppable force meets immovable object’ is one that comes to her mind – it didn’t matter WHAT the argument was, they would find a way to have it.

In the five days they’d been at the Kong’s house, and so the week they had known the brothers, Daisy had already gotten very good at learning to tune the disagreements out. It was a skill that had been necessary to survive, staying in a college dorm in Freshman year. But the thing Daisy couldn’t work out was WHY Mario had it out for Peach in the first place. Herself and Rosalina had been mostly treated indifferently, not spoken to all that much, but more or less civil on the occasions it happened. And she couldn’t figure out what was different about them and Peach, but whatever it was, he would have to get over it, and soon. For the sake of _all_ their sanity.

\---

“Donkey called earlier, by the way.”

Rosalina looked up from her slice of veggie pizza upon hearing Dixie’s statement. The girl was clutching her own slice of pepperoni, chewing it casually. Her tone had been totally conversational, but Mario still put his Hawaiian slice down in the box and looked at her fully. She continued.

“He says he’ll be back tomorrow afternoon,” She went on, “And he knows you’re here, and says to tell you he’ll see what intel he can get together for you.”

Mario nodded, looking pleased.

“Thanks, Dixie,” He replied. Peach hummed in thought.

“So we’ll finally get to meet this Donkey, huh? Not quite sure what to expect,” She admitted, and Rosalina couldn’t help but agree.

They’d heard snippets about what the man was like, and she’d spotted his face in a few of the photos around the house in the five days they’d been camped out here, but they didn’t really know all that much about him. Any time they would ask, Dixie would just shrug and say, “He’s _Donkey_ , I really can’t explain ‘til you see him.”

She was a little nervous about this, but she just had to trust that Mario and co. wouldn’t steer them wrong.

Luigi had finally started to relax around them somewhat, able to hold a conversation with them with minimal stammering, for the most part. He had suddenly begun to get along with Daisy their second day at the Kong’s, seemingly without any explanation, and Daisy had not offered any reason as to why she was suddenly warmer to the younger of the brothers. Whatever the reason, the two of them seemed to be on fairly friendly terms, and if he was not with his brother or Yoshi, odds are he could be found chatting to Daisy. Toad, not so much; the younger teen was still somewhat taken with Peach and had taken to following her around, offering his help with any task she may need to do. The blonde seemed to find it more amusing than anything else, taking it all in stride. But, when he wasn’t stalking Peach, Rosalina found that, despite being a good four or so years younger than her, Toad was actually a good friend to talk to. He was fiercely loyal and caring, wishing only to help others as much as possible, something Rosalina could relate to.

She also, unlike the other two girls, attempted to pry some conversation out of Mario. She would have felt bad if she did not at least try; and although she was not fond of the way he and Peach were acting around each other, he had never shown any real animosity to her. Her attempts at conversation had gotten a somewhat lukewarm response from the boy, but it was a start.

It was Yoshi, though, who she knew she got along with the best. Daisy and Peach would no doubt say the same. The little boy was impossible to not love, and just invoked a deep fondness within her that only the likes of her little sister could usually invoke. Daisy could often be found playing tag or ball with him, Peach seemed perfectly content to have him nap sprawled over her lap during quieter moments, and Rosalina…well, she just felt a strong wish to look after him, really. She had what her friends referred to as a Mother Hen complex, and it was particularly strong for this little boy. Yoshi just had the ability to make friends with anyone.

As she would go on to discover, the three of them were not the only ones to think this way.

The next morning, she had awoken first, as she had every day so far. She had a couch last night, as did Mario, and therefore she could see Daisy half-sprawled over a blissfully ignorant Peach, both snoring quietly still, as well as Toad and Luigi sleeping top to toe on another mattress nearby, Toad loosely and obliviously hugging Luigi’s legs in his sleep, Luigi’s arm hanging over the edge while he used the other as a pillow. However, there was one key difference to this now vaguely familiar picture; Yoshi’s mattress, which he had to himself as he was a _very_ squirmy sleeper, was bare of the little boy.

This was slightly odd; as energetic as he was, Yoshi was a deep sleeper once you got him to sleep and tended not to wake until one of them woke him up purposefully. Amusingly, this had resulted in them once letting him sleep until noon after he had been particularly spirited the day before, in order to give themselves a break. However, with all the others still asleep, she couldn’t help but wonder about the whereabouts of the child. She sat up slightly to look over at the other couch, confirming that Mario was still out of it, hat lowered across his eyes and his arm hanging off the side the same way Luigi’s was.

Rubbing her eyes, she decided to wait a few more minutes to see if he would come back before she would go looking for him. It was fairly amusing seeing the others sleeping, anyway. She had picked up on all their habits; she had already known that Peach was a relatively peaceful sleeper, and that Daisy talked in her sleep from time to time. Toad seemed to always have to be curled up and clinging to something, whether that be his pillow or the legs of whichever brother he was sharing with. Luigi and Mario mirrored each other, which was funny to see when they happened to have to share a mattress, with the only difference being that Luigi always threw his hat haphazardly into the corner rather than keeping it on his person. She supposed maybe it was a little creepy to observe them well enough to know this, but, well, she didn’t have a phone or anything else to do until someone else woke up, so it was really all she had for entertainment.

Being an early riser was a curse, sometimes.

When it became clear Yoshi was not about to return anytime soon, she stood as quietly as possible and padded across the room, carefully so as to not disturb the others. Luigi, who was usually the second to awaken after her, shifted slightly as she passed him, brows furrowing slightly, before he relaxed back into sleep as she paused her movement.

She made it out of the room without managing to cause any of the others to stir, and began up the stairs as softly as possible. It became apparent quickly that Yoshi was not in either of the bathrooms, as both the doors were still wide open, and Diddy and Dixie’s rooms were both still closed and locked, so they had clearly yet to rise as well. She glanced into the open rooms to see if she could spot the unruly ginger curls, but there was still no sign of him.

She paused at the foot of the stairs up to the third floor. She had never been up here, yet. She had never had a reason to. According to Diddy, it housed Donkey Kong’s room, and the evasive Cranky Kong, and apart from that was used solely for storage. She couldn’t think of any reason Yoshi would have to be up there, either, but since there was no sign of the boy anywhere else…

She somewhat cautiously began to climb the stairs. It felt wrong somehow, like this was forbidden. It wasn’t; nobody had ever told them not to come up there, they had just said with a slight shrug that Cranky just doesn’t like to be disturbed. Despite being there for almost a week, none of them had seen hide nor hair of this elusive person. Diddy or Dixie would bring him food several times a day, and apparently there was a third small bathroom upstairs, so he had never ventured down to use the second-floor ones.

She stilled near the top, faintly registering the now-familiar chattering tone of Yoshi’s voice coming from a room at the end of the corridor. She froze as she approached it, feeling uncertain, as she saw a plaque on the open door, rusty and dusty, but still clearly emblazoned with the name ‘Cranky’. She recalled Dixie’s words about him not wanting to be disturbed, but equally…she could see Yoshi, sat cross legged and still in his pyjamas, babbling away in the relentless way he was prone to doing. She _couldn’t_ see the person that he was talking to, but in the end it didn’t matter, for Yoshi’s eyes suddenly landed on her while he was gesturing wildly mid-story and he cried out brightly in greeting, “Hi, Rosie! Come meet Cranky!”

She hesitated, and nearly jumped out of her skin when the voice of an old man rang out from the room.

“Well, come in if you’re going to.”

He sounded impatient, and not entirely happy, although whether this was at her, at Yoshi, or in general she did not know.

With slight wariness, she pushed the door open further and stepped lightly in.

The lighting was still somewhat dim in the room, given the still-rising sun outside, but she could just make out the figure sat in an armchair in the corner of the room. He was clearly a very old man, if the wrinkled face and long white beard and hair were anything to go on, the weak light in the room gleaming on the bald top of his head. Small black glasses were perched crookedly on the end of his thick nose, narrow black eyes looking back at her with a hint of reproach. He was dressed in day clothes already, a tan sweatervest over a white shirt and matching pants, and an uneven, unstable looking walking stick was balanced against the arm of his chair.

Yoshi bounced to his feet, moving to her side and tugging her hand eagerly, pulling her deeper into the room.

“Cranky, this is Rosie! She’s one of the people hangin’ out with us, remember I said?” He asked brightly, moving himself up and down on the balls of his feet. Cranky snorted.

“You told me about ten minutes ago, boy. I may be old, but my memory’s not going that bad yet.”

She shot him a polite smile as his attention came back to her, eyes scanning up and down.

“So,” He said, “You’re one of the kidnapees, eh?”

She fought back the mild discomfort at this title, and nodded her head.

“Yes sir, it’s nice to meet you. Your house is lovely,” She replied, sending him a well-mannered smile. He snorted somewhat derisively.

“Oh, it’s not my house, these days. Belongs to that grandson of mine now. Little brat barely lets me leave this place anymore,” He grumbled, and Yoshi chimed into the conversation again.

“That’s cuz you’re _real old_ , Cranky,” He said in earnest, blinking up at the man innocently, “He wants to keep you safe!”

Rosalina had to fight back a laugh at the sheer indignancy on Cranky’s face at Yoshi’s somewhat tactless comment, but she quickly rejoined the conversation to prevent the little boy from being scolded.

“Your grandson?” She asked, keeping her tone steady and polite. Cranky looked back away from Yoshi once again. Mission accomplished.

“Yeah, my grandson. They Donkey…fancies himself an amazing leader, full of action. I tell him, you wait and see, me and your old man, _we_ saw the action, you haven’t seen anything yet,” He replied, shaking his head with a dismissive scoff. Yoshi frowned slightly.

“But I once saw Mr Donkey throw two guys his size out the _window,_ ” He argued, brows furrowing, “He’s _so cool.”_

“Being ‘cool’ doesn’t mean you’re a perfect leader. That grandson of mine has a lot to learn in that regard.”

Rosalina blinked slightly, and saw Yoshi do the same out the corner of his eye. She hadn’t expected to be hit with words of pseudo wisdom before 7am, particularly from this old man who lurked at the top of the house. He registered her look, and frowned at her, leaving her feeling slightly like a child who had done something wrong.

“Something you’ll learn when you’re pushing ninety like me, girl,” He remarked, “Pushing 90 but still spry as ever and what does that boy have me doing?”

He snorted, turning his gaze out the window.

“Has me confined up here, convinced it’s too ‘dangerous’.”

Another snort.

“Thinks he knows what’s best for everyone without bothering to ask them.”

Yoshi was still frowning slightly, maybe at these slights against Donkey Kong. The little boy seemed to think he was the coolest thing since sliced bread, after all, something most children probably _would_ think about someone who apparently was strong enough to wrestle off two fully grown male attackers with ease.

“That’s not true,” He piped up in protest, “You just said, he does it coz he wants you to be safe!”

“That’s true. He obviously cares about you, and Diddy and Dixie, a lot. By not letting you in on the action, it isn’t some way of dismissing you or thinking you’re not capable, he just wants you to stay safe.”

Both males in the room turned to look at Rosie, who felt surprised at herself more than anything. She hadn’t really planned on speaking up, but she felt a need to defend this man who was not here to defend himself. She had heard stories from the two younger Kongs, stories that had certainly convinced her of Donkey Kong’s bravery and devotion to his family. It was hard to judge when she had never met him, of course, but she didn’t get the feeling he deserved this attack from his grandfather.

Cranky shook his head.

“Diddy and Dixie…those two. They’re too dang cheerful is what they are. Can hear them loud and clear all the way up here, even when they’re on the ground floor. Just going to end up getting themselves in trouble,” He grumbled. Rosalina blinked at the abrupt change of subject, but also at the clear hints of concern concealed in his voice. Cranky was obviously not the most cheerful of people, as his apt name showed, but it was definitely there. Thinly veiled worry over the two younger members of the Kongs.

It made sense, she supposed. Apparently, they spent a lot of time in this house with just the three of them – Diddy, Dixie, Cranky. Diddy and Dixie always escaped upstairs for at least a few minutes each day with trays of food, clearly for Cranky. Sometimes they were able to hear the laughter of one of them, usually Diddy, and sometimes they would end up lingering up there for closer to an hour. Clearly, there was a fondness in this family for each other, no matter how indifferent Cranky may try and act.

“Is being cheerful really a bad thing?” She asked, voice slightly quiet. Her eyes looked down to the small boy by her side, and she knew Cranky had followed her gaze, before he sighed heavily.

“No,” The old man conceded, “I suppose not always.”

Rosalina smiled as Yoshi looked between the two of them curiously, before the kid took the conversation into his own hands, clearly bored with the way the talk was going.

“Are you going to come and say hi to Mario and Weeg and the others sometime?” He asked curiously.

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Wh-y?” Yoshi whined, dragging out the word for several seconds, firm pout on his face, “They said it’s weird they haven’t seen you yet.”

Cranky shrugged, grunting in exertion as he leaned forward to reach for his glass of water. Rosalina moved quicker, moving to the table and picking it up to hand it to him. He narrowed his eyes slightly, before looking away and grunting a quiet thanks, taking the water.

“Those two are more trouble than I can be bothered dealing with right now. Too much like their father, they are,” He replied. Rosalina frowned.

“Their father?”

To her surprise, Yoshi was quick to interject.

“They don’t try ‘nd be trouble! Trouble just finds us!”

“And ends up on our doorstep, usually,” Cranky said flatly.

“But that’s okay, cause you love us!”

“I have never once said that, boy.”

“You don’t have to, I _know_ it.”

But as their conversation/bickering continued, with Cranky looking half-exasperated, a quarter annoyed and a quarter reluctantly fond of the lively child, Rosalina found herself still stuck on what Cranky had just said.

_Too much like their father…_ Where _did_ Mario and Luigi come from, anyway? It was something that had never been brought up in the week or so they’d known each other. The girls had talked about their families from time to time, if asked about them, but the brothers had never offered up any information about their own. Who were their parents? Where were they, if their two sons were out on the streets fighting hostile gangs?

…And how did Cranky know their dad, anyway?

\---

“We have to talk.”

Mario looked up at his brother upon hearing these words, brow quirking. Luigi fidgeted slightly in the doorway, unsure exactly how to phrase what he wanted to say to him.

“Okay,” The older boy acknowledged, bemused, “What about?”

Luigi hesitated, floundering slightly and trying hard not to. He was never the best at serious conversations. Or small talk conversations. Or conversations in general. His brother tended to be one of few exceptions to this, but not when he had to give him into trouble for something. And no doubt, he _did_ have to pull his brother up on this. It had gone on long enough.

“I…it’s about the girls.”

Mario’s expression took on a mildly exasperated edge.

“Look, if you’re going to tell me to stop arguing with blondie, you should- “

“I’m not,” He hastily interrupted, “Or, well, it _would_ be good if the two of you could quit it, but that’s not…that’s not what I meant.”

“Okay,” Mario repeated, leaning back in his chair, “What did you mean, then?”

Luigi opened his mouth, then closed it again. He hesitated for a few moments, relieved when his brother patiently waited for him to speak.

“I just…look. They’re going to be with us for a while now, whether you like it or not, Mario. You have to start being nicer to them.”

There. He’d said it. And Mario just looked faintly amused at the words.

“I’m not being rude to Daisy or Rosalina. I just don’t talk to them much; I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”

_Daisy or Rosalina._ Two out of three unfortunately. Two out of three very close-knit friends, who took any insult to just one of them to all three of their hearts. So in this case, two thirds wasn’t quite good enough.

“I know, but…well, the only interaction you have with any of them is when you fight with Peach.”

“So?”

“So, it can create a bit of a…negative opinion. I guess.”

That was putting it lightly. He’d heard from Daisy’s own mouth, a few nights ago, during the night neither of them had brought up again to maintain Daisy’s dignity. She didn’t _like_ Mario. Rosalina was more polite, and he knew she would never say it outright, but he had noticed a slightly strained expression on her face every time Peach and Mario were close to each other. The two of them were a ticking time bomb, and everyone knew it.

But he couldn’t exactly blame Peach for it. Mario was the one who started it, he hated to admit. He’d been slightly surprised by his brother’s attitude with the blonde – normally, with new people, he was like how he was with the other two. Quiet, keeping to himself and observing from afar until he’d decided they were trustworthy. But with Peach, the attitude had begun almost straight away. He couldn’t figure it out one bit.

“Look Mario… _I_ like you.”

Mario snorted.

“Thanks. Good to know my little brother of nineteen years likes me. I was starting to wonder.”

“No, that’s not what…I like you. Toad likes you. Yoshi likes you-“

“Yoshi likes _everyone._ ”

“Yeah okay, that’s true, but would you let me make my point please?”

Mario spread his hands in mock surrender, nodding.

“We all like you. You’re a likeable person. I know…I _know_ you could be friends with the girls if you just tried. I like them, Toad likes them, Yoshi absolutely adores them. They’re not going away. We said we’d look out for them, and we will.”

Mario remained quiet.

“They didn’t _ask_ for this to happen, Mario,” He said softly, “But it did.”

Mario looked away.

“Yeah, well…Nobody ever _asks_ to get kidnapped.”

Luigi paused. Something about that comment…something about the strained way he had spoken those words…the way he had looked away from him.

All of a sudden, it clicked in his mind somehow. He didn’t know, exactly, how he knew. Call it brother’s intuition. Mario certainly hadn’t given him any clues, but…

“This is about her, isn’t it?”

Mario stiffened slightly.

“Don’t know who you’re talking about,” He muttered. Luigi frowned, moving around to meet his brother head on.

“Yes you do. You know fine well. It makes a lot of sense, now I think about it.”

“Luigi…”

“Why didn’t you just _tell_ me that Peach reminded you of Pauline?”

A ringing silence was his only response. Mario scowled slightly and looked away again.

Really, it did make sense. Peach and Pauline were very alike, now he thought about it. Both into fashion, both very typically pretty, both coming from rich backgrounds, both very confident in a lot of ways.

Both kidnap victims…

“Peach isn’t Pauline,” Mario finally said somewhat testily.

“I know that. But then why are you treating her so…”

He paused. Another wave of brotherly revelation washed over him, followed by a sting of sympathy. Mario pursed his lips, seeming dedicated to deciding not to speak for now.

Peach reminded Mario of Pauline. Mario did not want to chance getting close to Peach, only for what happened to Pauline to happen to her. Pauline was still alive, sure, but since she and Mario had broken up two years ago…well, they hadn’t spoken much. Mario made it a point to not bring her up very often, despite the fact they had dated for seven months. He blamed himself, Luigi knew. He _shouldn’t,_ but he did. Mario might be a tough, unemotional guy on the surface, but he took things to heart more than he lets on. He was quick to blame himself for any failures in their life, shouldering the fault so that Luigi would not. He was a good brother, no doubt about that.

…But still.

“Pauline wasn’t your fault, Mario,” He said, voice solemn. Mario spared a glance his way.

“You know that’s not true.”

“She got taken by them, it’s their-“

“She got taken by _them_ because she was dating _me,_ ” Mario snapped, eyes holding a new fire as he finally locked eyes with Luigi.

“That doesn’t make it your fault for dating her! And even if it did, this is a different situation entirely. Peach and the others, they’re already on their radar. Nothing you do could make it worse for her. So you may as well just be _friends_ with them.”

Mario didn’t look entirely convinced, but he knew that he wouldn’t. Luigi had spent his entire life trying to curb his brother’s self-deprecating, self-sacrificial habits. They weren’t about to disappear overnight.

“Besides, you were dating Pauline and had been for like six months. You don’t date and don’t _want_ to date Peach…do you?”

He had added on the last part out of sheer curiosity, and it was almost worth the thoroughly unamused look he got from his older sibling.

“No,” He said flatly, “I do not want to date blondie. Literally what part of our interactions makes you think that is even a possibility.”

“Well,” He replied cheerfully, “It _is_ said that boys will pick on and argue with girls they have a crush on…”

“Yeah, pre-school boys.”

“And Peach _is_ really pretty, and so similar to Pauline, so she _could_ be just your type…”

“Really pretty, huh? You sure it isn’t you who wants to date her?”

“Positive,” Luigi replied, laughing, “I definitely don’t have any interest in her that way.”

“Well, neither do I. You said it yourself, all we do is argue.”

“To be fair, you’re the one that started that. And a lot of the arguments are usually your fault.”

“They are n-“ Mario stopped at his brother’s unimpressed look, “Okay, fine, maybe they are.”

Luigi grinned.

“So, will you try and get along with the girls a little better?”

“Alright, alright, but if Blondie picks a fight, I’m not taking it lying down.”

Luigi grimaced mentally, having witnessed first-hand how argumentative Peach could be when Mario was in the picture, but nodded, nonetheless. Mario nudged him with a slight snort.

“You know, you’re the bane of my freaking life.”

Luigi laughed slightly, allowing his brother to knock the side of his head fondly, reaching up to fix his hat when it became unsettled by this action.

“Yeah, I know. Bet you wish mom and dad had stopped at just one.”

“I do, actually. Just think, I could be living that blissful life as an only child.”

They both laughed at this, and Luigi relished the brief moment of contented peace he felt, before everything would no doubt decent into chaos later that day.

He was right.

It started with a loud shriek from Dixie.

“DONKEY!”

This was followed by her hurtling herself down the stairs at rapid speed and into the muscular arms of the head of the Kong gang, who had just barely got through the front door.

Luigi’s lip twitched faintly as he saw Daisy and Peach’s jaw drop as they saw Donkey, and he couldn’t blame them. Donkey Kong was one big guy. Topping in at probably closer to 7” tall than 6, with easily one of the beefiest physiques Luigi has ever seen, complete with several scars littering his bare arms and, currently, a black eye. His dark brown hair was trimmed close to the skull, as it usually was, and his dark brown eyes were just like Luigi always remembered. But any intimidation he may give off was somewhat reduced when the pink clad teenage girl flung her arms around him, and he lifted her up in response.

“We missed you!” Dixie cried, Donkey’s largeness utterly dwarfing the girl. Donkey chuckled and gave her one more welcoming squeeze before he released her.

“Missed you too, Dix. Where’s that pesky nephew of mine?”

“Uncle D! You’re back!”

Diddy was another blur as he ran to his uncle, but rather than tackle him in a hug he eagerly held out a fist for Donkey to bump. The older man obliged, and the two quickly carried out a complex looking handshake, by the end of which both were laughing.

“How was New Jersey? Did ya crush the Kremlins?” Diddy asked eagerly, and Donkey knocked his skull affectionately.

“Don’t I always?” He replied rhetorically, before his eyes landed on Luigi and his brother, “Good to see you boys again. Keeping out of trouble?” He asked, crossing the hall and clapping a hand on both their shoulders.

“Always trying to, DK,” Mario replied, giving the man a rare grin, which seemed to surprise the three girls standing nearby if their quick shared glances were anything to go off. Luigi didn’t blame them. He sometimes forgot his brother had the ability to smile, too.

Speaking of the girls, Donkey’s eyes landed on them next, small frown forming on his face.

“So, you’re the three that damn Bowser got his hands on, huh? Sorry about that. Always wish there was more we could do to bring them down a notch, but…” He shrugged, “We’re pretty limited by numbers.”

“It’s okay,” Rosalina replied, giving him a small, if still slightly uncertain, smile, “I’m Rosalina, yeah. And this is Daisy and Peach.”

The other two greeted him with similar levels of apprehension. Luigi supposed he would probably feel the same if he were meeting Donkey for the first time. He couldn’t remember how he had felt the first time they met – he had been too little. Donkey was thirty now, so would have been a preteen, maybe teen when they’d met. Had he been huge yet? Luigi couldn’t recall. To be honest, he couldn’t picture Donkey ever being a kid. His first memories of the man were from when Luigi was about five, so Donkey would have been nearly eighteen. He was certainly big by then. To be honest, Luigi would believe it if someone told him that Donkey Kong had come out of the womb muscled and swinging his fists. It was completely plausible.

They moved the conversation to the kitchen, parking themselves at the table although it was too soon to have dinner yet. It was only about 4pm.

“Sorry, just…about that name you said…Bowser. Who is that?” Daisy enquired somewhat warily. Luigi took it on himself to answer, knowing that she was probably more comfortable with him than with Donkey.

“Did we not mention? Sorry, I thought we…anyway, Bowser is the leader of the Koopas. Seriously scary guy, not someone you want to mess with.”

“And so, naturally, you mess with him by busting three of his prisoners out,” The redhead replied wryly, amusement flickering over her face as she propped her chin up on her hand. Luigi grinned back somewhat sheepishly. He liked all three of the girls, but Daisy was pretty easy to speak to somehow. Maybe because they’d had their bonding moment a few nights ago, or maybe because he just admired her hard-headed, undeniable loyalty to her friends. Either way, he didn’t find it as difficult as he usually did to hold eye contact with her.

“Have you ever met him?” Peach asked curiously, tilting her head. Luigi hesitated, stomach suddenly sinking like a stone, and, out of habit, looked over at Mario. Mario was glaring at the table, but he seemed to sense Luigi’s gaze and looked round to meet him, before he looked back at the table and answered for them.

“Twice,” He muttered shortly, “But twice was more than enough.”

Luigi hesitated, feeling the familiar but hated sensation of crawling anxiety in his chest as he tried his best not to remember those two occasions. He had nightmares about them for years; still did, from time to time. Every time he was reminded of him, of Bowser, he was transported back to his small frightened thirteen-year-old self, and all he could hear was screaming, crying and that god-forsaken deep, taunting laughter…

He jerked his head, clearing his throat and rapidly tried to change the subject.

“So, uh, Donkey. You said you had intel for us?” He asked. Dixie and Diddy were frowning softly at him, understanding shining in their eyes. He wished they would stop before Mario could see them and their pity. It would only frustrate him more. Donkey’s face was serious for a moment, before he relaxed it and allowed the subject to change.

“Sure do. Not entirely good, I’m afraid. The Koopas know that you headed in this direction, and they’ve started patrolling all the nearby suburbs. Won’t be long before they get to here. Which means…”

Mario cursed, then quickly grimaced and glanced at Yoshi to see if he had heard. When the little boy remained thoroughly occupied playing in the corner, he went on.

“We can’t stay here,” He said grimly. Peach stiffened, as did the other two girls, suddenly looking fearful.

“But…where else would we go?” Rosalina asked nervously. Mario looked over at her.

“Don’t worry about it. We have plenty of safe houses all over the country. We just need to think up one nearby, where there isn’t a huge Koopa presence.”

“Pennsylvania is pretty quiet right now, from what I’ve heard,” Donkey said, “One of the most quiet in the east coast. You got one there?”

“We do!”

To general surprise, it was Toad who had declared that. He had leaned forward eagerly, eyes bright and smile wide, all of a sudden.

“We do have a place in Pennsylvania,” He repeated, “ _My_ house!”

“You’re from Pennsylvania?” Asked Peach, and Toad’s face flushed slightly upon being addressed by her, but he nodded.

“Yeah, my dad and my sister still live there! Come on, we could totally go!” He implored, looking between Mario and Luigi hopefully. Mario heaved a sigh.

“I don’t know, Toad…your place isn’t a _safe_ house exactly. It’s just a house.”

“Which makes it even more inconspicuous,” The younger boy challenged, “Come on, _please._ ”

He was homesick, Luigi realised. He hadn’t seen his family for months now, not since they had made an obligatory visit in winter so Toad could celebrate Hanukah with them. Sometimes he forgot what it was like, to miss your family and actually be able to…fix that. He knew Mario’s thoughts were going in a similar direction, as he watched his eyes soften slightly, before exhaling sharply again.

“Okay Toad, you win. Pennsylvania it is.”

The boy whooped in delight, scrambling away from the table and pulling his phone out, no doubt to go and let his sister know the news. Rosalina was smiling fondly at his excitement, but it was Daisy who proposed the next question.

“So, uh…how exactly do we get to Pennsylvania?”

Peach groaned loudly, “ _Please_ don’t say more walking. Even with shoes, I don’t think I can take much more of that.”

“Of course not, that would take days,” Luigi said with a slight laugh, “I guess we could get a bus, but it would take us a few days to get the money together for that…”

Donkey rolled his eyes, and threw something onto the table with a clatter. Mario reached for it and blinked as he picked it up.

“Your keys? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, go ahead and take the old seven-seater, we can use the van in the meantime. You wanna get out of here fast and be able to make a quick getaway if needed, right?”

“Right, but…are you sure? If we can’t get back here for a few months-“

“We’ll survive,” Donkey assured, “Just at least _try_ not to total it.”

“We won’t,” Luigi assured quickly, “Right, Mario?”

Mario nodded somewhat distractedly, pocketing the keys.

“You can both drive? Really?” Daisy asked somewhat sceptically.

“Sure. We both have our licences.”

“Legally?” Peach asked shrewdly. Luigi laughed somewhat uncomfortably.

“I never said that,” He admitted, “But we’ve both been driving since we were sixteen. We’re good, I promise.”

Oddly enough, none of the three of them looked entirely reassured, but they seemed to have at last learned the most important rule of being on the run – you just have to roll with the hand that fate gives you, and make it work.

“So I guess this is our last supper,” Dixie remarked, stretching her arms and looking slightly saddened, “We’ll need to throw together something good to eat, then.”

“Actually…” Peach said somewhat hesitantly, “Would it be okay if I…cooked tonight?”

All eyes in the room turned to her in surprise, and she quickly clarified.

“Your cooking is great, of course, don’t get me wrong, I just…I feel like we should do something to thank you for all the help, y’know? The least I can do is make dinner for us.”

“Aw, Peach, you don’t have to. We’re happy to help,” Diddy offered, and Dixie nodded.

“It’s what we’re here for,” She agreed. Peach nodded.

“I know, but still. I like cooking anyway. Please? I really don’t mind.”

The three Kong’s exchanged a long look, before Dixie sat back with a small shrug.

“Alright, Peach,” She conceded, smiling up at her, “Blow us away with your cooking ability, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for the patience! I hate uni, is all I have to say on the matter.   
> But anyway, I know it was an awful lot of dialogue, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter okay all the same. If you didn't hopefully you can forgive me with these two words:  
> Roadtrip. Hijinks.   
> That's right, next chapter will be about 75% them on the road, and I cannot wait to write that absolute chaos.   
> Also, now that I've realised some people actually care about this story, I've sat and wrote up a rough plan for all the chapters and have come to the conclusion there should be about 30 chapters to tell everything I want to tell, give or take. Yikes, no pressure. But I'm really looking forward to what's to come, and I hope you are too!  
> As always, read, review and kudos if you feel so inclined, and I'll see you next time!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight, they really should have known that a road trip with the seven of them was never going to be particularly peaceful.

“Okay, I think I’m ready!”

Peach’s cheerful voice made everyone look up from their respective activities. The rest of the household had been banished to the living room to allow Peach to work her magic, where they had been waiting with varying degrees of impatience as delightful scents had begun to waft throughout the house. It had taken almost an hour for Peach to reappear, by which point most of them were almost drooling with anticipation.

The blonde stuck her head around the door, cheeks flushed from the heat of the kitchen and apron smudged with sauce, but eyes bright and relaxed in a way that they had not been lately. Rosalina and Daisy both knew that cooking was one of Peach’s many talents – none of the three of them were bad at it, exactly, but Daisy preferred to make quick, convenient food and Rosalina much preferred baking to cooking. As her roommates, the two of them got to sample her food on a fairly frequent basis, and it was this fact, and the knowledge of her skill, that made them leap to their feet immediately. Diddy was quick to follow, from where he had been engaged in a conversation with Dixie and Donkey.

“Eating time? Finally! Whatever you’ve been cooking up in there smells amazing, Peach!” He cried, eyes eager as he led the way back to the kitchen alongside the other two girls, the rest of the house following at a slower but no less keen pace.

Rosalina sat herself down between Daisy and Yoshi, and while everyone else settled themselves somewhat snuggly around the table which was probably not meant for eleven people (Cranky had made an appearance, to the general surprise of everyone), Peach gave her large pot one final stir before beginning to dish out food onto the several plates laid out. Daisy’s eyes lit up.

“Aw yes, some kind of pasta! Peach, you’re too good to us,” She remarked, grinning and picking up her fork as her friend placed a plate in front of her. Peach rolled her eyes, looking faintly pleased.

“It’s pasta alla puttannesca, Daisy, and don’t you dare start eating until everyone has their plate,” She replied sternly, pointing her sauce covered spoon in her friend’s face. It was Daisy’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Oh, we’re being _traditional_ , are we?”

“It’s not being traditional, it’s being _polite.”_

 _“_ You know, some might argue that eating your food quickly is a sign of how good it is. You should feel complimented.”

“Some might argue, but I’m not one of them, so put the fork down, Sarasa.”

Daisy raised her hands in mock surrender, placing the fork back onto the table. Luigi, who was sat opposite her between Donkey and Toad, shot her a somewhat amused look.

“Sarasa?” He questioned. Daisy blinked at him in surprise.

“You didn’t know? That’s my surname. Daisy Sarasa is my full name,” She replied, pointing at herself. Rosalina’s face dawned in realisation.

“Oh, we never did give our full names, did we? I guess it isn’t really important, but…”

Peach hummed as she moved around the kitchen with ease, grater and block of parmesan in hand.

“Mine’s Kelly, for the record. Peach Kelly,” She informed, sprinkling a generous amount over Toad’s plate. Luigi looked over at Rosalina curiously.

“What about you, Rosalina?” He asked politely. She smiled at him.

“Rosalina Faye is mine,” She offered. Luigi hesitated for a brief second, sparing a glance at his brother who simply shrugged carelessly, before he spoke again.

“We’re the Jumpman’s, Mario and I. Mario and Luigi Jumpman. But uh, we don’t really use our full names all that much, to be honest.”

“Why not?” Peach asked somewhat hesitantly, as if worried she would offend them. Mario snorted.

“Because they’re a mouthful,” He replied wryly. He jabbed his thumb into his own chest, “Mario Gonzales Jumpman…”

“Luigi Carlos Jumpman,” The younger brother chimed in, “But, uh, we don’t really ever need to use our full names. Most people just know us by our first names. They’re not exactly super common names, y’know? This looks amazing, by the way, Peach,” He added, smiling somewhat awkwardly at the blonde as she finally sat down at her place at the table between Daisy and Dixie.

Peach responded in the same way.

“Thanks! I hope it tastes as good, it should do, I’ve made this pasta a hundred and one times at home. My b-Uh, well, that is, I got taught when I was younger,” She said. Daisy smirked.

“You can say your butler taught you, Peach, it won’t offend our peasant ears,” She replied, grinning wider as Peach’s cheeks flushed slightly darker, sheepish smile twitching onto her lips.

“You got me,” She admitted, “He did, yeah. His grandma was Italian, so this right here is a genuine recipe, guys.”

Dixie twirled a generous strand around her form and pulled it up to her mouth. As soon as it hit her tastebuds, her face lit up.

“Oh, _wow._ Why didn’t you mention you could cook sooner?” She mock-scolded, elbowing Peach in a friendly way and quickly spooning another mouthful.

“Next time you visit, cooking duty is on you,” Agreed Diddy, shovelling his food down at a frankly concerning pace. Donkey shook his head at his nephew.

“Don’t go trying to pawn your chores off on the guests,” He commanded, before he shot Peach a pleased look and added, “But if you felt like volunteering, I don’t think anyone would complain.”

“About time someone in this house made a decent meal,” Cranky huffed, ignoring both Dixie and Diddy’s loud protests at this statement, “Not bad, girly.”

Peach looked a little overwhelmed at this praise, face burning as she thanked them. When it came to compliments about her looks, she could take them with ease, but any compliments about a skill of hers had her as flustered as a child. Rosalina didn’t bother heaping the praise onto her friend; she could tell her later. Besides, Peach already knew that herself and Daisy loved her cooking, they nagged her to cook for them more often all the time.

“It would have been better if you could have handmade the pasta…but I’ll admit, this isn’t half bad, blondie,” Mario grudgingly acknowledged. Peach looked as if she didn’t know whether to be offended or grateful at this statement, face clearly showing her surprise at the half-compliment.

“I didn’t really have the time for that, but, uh…thank you?”

Daisy looked borderline alarmed at this semi-positive interaction, looking at Rosalina with a baffled expression. Rosalina simply responded with a small shrug. Even a notorious grump can’t be a grump 24/7, after all.

“That’s the real Italian way,” Luigi acknowledged with an almost nostalgic looking half-smile. Peach looked at him with open curiosity.

“Are you, then? Italian, I mean?” She enquired. Rosalina half expected them to shut down this line of questioning, but Luigi just looked vaguely wistful for a moment before his face cleared and he responded.

“Our parents were. They both immigrated over here, though, so we were born here,” He said. Mario raised an eyebrow somewhat shrewdly.

“Weren’t the names a giveaway of that one?” He asked. Rosalina’s smile became faintly sheepish.

“Maybe,” She admitted, “But I didn’t want to assume.”

“Nah, we’re fully Italian. We used to have this kind of food all the time,” Mario remarked, corner of his mouth twitching in what could almost have been a smile as he absently twirled another strange of pasta, speared an olive and popped it into his mouth.

“Oh, Yoshi,” Rosalina sighed after sparing a glance to her left, “You have sauce all over your face.”

“Do I?” The little boy replied innocently, face smeared with red. More only splattered over his cheeks as he slurped up a long noodle before offering a toothy smile back at Rosalina. She shook her head, trying not to look amused as she reached around Daisy’s back to accept the tea towel that Peach was offering her before she scrubbed at a complaining Yoshi’s face to remove the sauce.

“You’re such a mom, Rosie,” Dixie remarked, propping her head up on her hand and smiling faintly at the older blonde. Rosalina laughed as she dropped the towel back onto the table. Cranky rolled his eyes and took Yoshi’s fork from him and set about showing the young boy how to properly put it onto his fork to prevent a mess. Donkey raised an eyebrow at this, and the senior man simply sent him a withering look, sniffing.

“It was gonna make me lose my dinner, watching him eat his,” He said for explanation. But Rosalina didn’t miss the man using his sweater sleeve to gently swipe away a small speck of sauce she had missed, and from the sudden fondness in Donkey’s eyes, he hadn’t either. She saw Dixie and Diddy exchange looks as well, but the conversation quickly moved on from there and it became just another background moment.

It was a lively affair overall, with conversation flowing loudly as several people frequently spoke over one another to carry conversations with other people. She learned that Luigi was fond of astronomy and stargazing, and as this was her area of study, and a vague interest of Daisy’s, the three of them had managed to hold a conversation about this. This conversation was somewhat more difficult to have over the loud cheers of Mario, Dixie and Peach as Diddy tried to arm wrestle Donkey, and lost spectacularly (“It was close,” Dixie could be heard assuring her boyfriend, sending a pleading look their way to keep their mouths shut). Yoshi and Toad were having an animated discussion about, naturally, dinosaurs (“I just think that t-rex’s were huge, Toad, maybe bigger than the empire state building but I’m not sure”) while Cranky had pulled a book out of nowhere and was seemingly attempting to ignore them all. Their dinner was followed by a plate of chocolate chip cookies that Donkey produced from the pantry (“Home-made by him,” Diddy chimed, “He’s more than just a pile of muscle sometimes”).

Rosalina looked around them all, feeling unusually content. The atmosphere was bright and joyful, and, despite everything, was giving her a feeling of hope. Even though they were leaving here tomorrow – a fact that made her far more sad than she would have expected a week ago – smiles were on everyone’s faces. Well, except for Cranky. But she was determined to change that, as she glanced at the title of the book he was reading, realised she had read it herself, and stubbornly drew him into a chat about it. Everything, she convinced herself, would be fine in the end.

__

Peach was _still_ not a morning person.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes, squinting in the weak morning sun as they all stood next to the Kong’s large car. She shook her head, trying to force herself to wake up a little. They were saying goodbye for now, after all.

Dixie, who was somewhat a morning person and was far too preppy for this time, had already pressed notes with her phone number into all of their hands, making them promise to call her when they could to keep her up to date. Diddy didn’t seem to be entirely awake either, eyes bleary even as he wrapped them all in warm hugs and wished them luck. Donkey cuffed the two oldest boys around the ear, and spoke, ignoring their protests and moves to readjust their hats.

“Take care of these ladies, alright? You gotta keep them safe,” He said gruffly, ruffling Yoshi’s hair. Said kid looked up at him, eyes wide and earnest.

“I’ll keep them safe too!” He swore, and he looked so genuine and eager that not even the independent “I-can-protect-myself” Daisy argued against him. Luigi and Mario both still looked slightly disgruntled, rubbing their ears ruefully, but they quickly nodded their agreement anyway, the younger brother accepting the keys flung his way with ease. Peach eyed up the house for the last time, and blinked as she spotted movement in one of the top floor windows. The gleam of glasses was visible for a moment, their owner peering down at them. When her eyes met his, he grudgingly raised a hand in farewell. She hadn’t spoken much to him, but she waved back in response anyway, stepping on Rosalina’s foot to allow her friend to do the same.

He retreated back behind the curtain a moment later, and the girls said their farewells to Donkey, reiterating their farewells to the younger two Kong’s as well. Dixie pulled all three of them into a group hug, looking despondent.

“I was getting used to having you guys around,” She said somewhat wistfully, “You’ll have to come visit again. When this has all calmed down a bit. We could hang out, go to the movies or…something.”

Peach felt a twinge of sympathy. Despite her very sociable, likeable nature, she supposed Dixie wouldn’t have many friends. She was homeschooled, after all, and lived at this base with just Donkey, Cranky and Diddy most of the time. It must get a little lonely, especially when you’re the only girl around. She hugged the younger teen again.

“We will,” She promised, “We can have a total girly sleepover night, it’ll be great.”

Dixie’s face lit up at this, and she seemed a little less sad to see them go. Nonetheless, Diddy slid an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her comfortingly to his side. She knocked her head gently against his to reassure him she was okay, reaching her hand up to lightly grasp the one around her.

The seven of them squeezed their way into the car, Luigi in the driver’s seat for the first chunk of the journey and Mario riding shotgun. Daisy, who lost the frantic game of rock-paper-scissors, was in the back with Yoshi, with Rosalina, Peach and Toad squeezed snugly in the middle. Still, they all fit comfortably and legally, which was about all they could ask for. Luigi turned the keys in the ignition, and the engine roared to life. They all waved frantically to the Kong’s, who returned these waves with equal vigour until they had pulled out the driveway and set off down the street.

Naturally, it turned to chaos almost immediately with six short words uttered by Yoshi.

“I gotta go to the bathroom.”

The three other boys groaned loudly, and Peach had a sudden suspicion that this roadtrip was not going to be particularly peaceful. They’d managed to make Yoshi wait for half an hour before he insisted he had to go _right now_ and they’d pulled up in front of a convenience store, Toad jogging in with Yoshi. Once they’d returned, Toad’s arms laden with snacks, they set off again. The snacks had been dumped on Mario’s lap for the oldest boy to distribute, and barely ten minutes had passed before Yoshi was asking for a packet of potato chips.

Mario rolled his eyes, but dutifully ripped open the multipack and extracted a single packet from its depths. He glanced at the flavour.

“Salt and vinegar?”

Yoshi wrinkled his nose, and Mario sighed, rummaging deeper in the bag to pull out another one.

“Barbeque?”

Yoshi stuck his tongue out in disgust, but Daisy chimed in, “Oh, I’ll have those if he won’t!”

Putting them to the side for her, he pulled out a third flavour.

“Sour cream, and if you gag, I will throw this entire pack out the car, so help me,” He threatened. A bright smile split Yoshi’s face.

“Sour cream is good,” He chirped. Mario crammed the rest of the multipack down at his feet, before hurling the pack backwards at Yoshi, who fumbled but managed to catch it. He repeated this for Daisy, but as she was not sitting diagonally behind him, throwing them was a little more awkward, resulting in…

“Ouch!”

Peach rubbed her nose, glowering at Mario who had the decency to look slightly sheepish even as everyone else in the car burst into fits of laughter. It hadn’t really hurt; she had just cried out as an automatic reaction to being pelted full force in the face by a packet of chips. The bag sat innocently in her lap, and she passed it over her head back to Daisy, still glaring at a now-snickering Mario.

“That was on purpose,” She accused him. He rolled his eyes, any and all apologetic emotion wiped from his face.

“It wasn’t, but I really wish it was.”

From behind the wheel, Luigi raised his gaze briefly upwards, as if questioning “Why me?”. Toad quickly clapped loudly.

“OKAY who wants to play I Spy! Yoshi, I bet you do!”

The little boy looked up from his snack, and nodded brightly. Luigi’s face fell back down with relief at avoiding what he had certainly thought would be an argument.

Turns out they had only delayed the inevitable, though.

They had discovered pretty quickly that Yoshi was pretty atrocious at playing I Spy by the normal rules, and so they had to adjust it for him. Instead of saying “I spy something beginning with the letter…”, they altered it to “I spy something the colour…” and it was easier for his young, hyperactive and not-exactly-in-the-education-system self. This worked out fine, although had worn fairly thin in the fifteen minute period of the trip were they had been driving with nothing but grassy fields on either side of them and they’d had to get creative to keep the game going.

But eventually, even this innocent game had managed to trigger a bickering match of epic proportions between the two resident drama queens.

“Red? _Red?!_ Well no wonder none of us guessed it, Mario, because those sunglasses are obviously _orange,”_ Peach was arguing passionately, leaned forward in her seat, eyes burning.

(Luigi looked five seconds away from deliberately crashing the car.)

(Toad had purposefully gone for a nap to try and tune out the arguing and was miraculously still blissfully unaware despite being right next to Peach.)

(Daisy and Yoshi had now started preoccupying themselves by creating their own personal handshake in the backseat.)

(Rosalina was staring out the window, looking wistfully at the hills in the distance as though she wished she were miles away in them instead of in this car.)

“Orange. Orange! I didn’t know you were colourblind, Peach, because that would be the only explanation for somehow thinking these _red_ glasses were anywhere near orange!”

“Oh, okay, I’m the fashion major and yet you think I don’t know anything about colours. Do you want me to pull up the colour wheel, because I will _do it!”_

“You don’t need to pull up any wheel for me to know that you’re just being a sore loser, and-“

“Okay, bathroom break! Lunch break! Any break, I just need a break, we’re stopping!” Luigi stated loudly. It was the most decisive any of them had heard them be in the time they’d known the boy, and it was clear that the two and a half hours or so that they had spent on the road so far had already began to grate on his nerves.

(So much for Mario’s promise to try and fight with Peach less often.)

“Lunch break? It’s 10:30am,” Peach pointed out, but his blue eyes were pleading when he met her gaze in his mirror and she ceased any and all objections. That face would be pretty hard to say no to; almost like denying a particularly pitiable puppy a treat.

They’d pulled off at the next exit, stopping at a modest service stop with a quant gift shop and diner. They all piled out of the car and into the shop to visit the bathroom, out of necessity more than actually needing to use it, before unanimously deciding to put the money Donkey Kong had given them to use and buy some breakfast. They hadn’t eaten before leaving the Kongs’, after all. They collapsed into a cramped booth. The diner had a quiet but comfortable hum of conversation in the background, several other families occupying tables as well as a few stragglers travelling solo, such as the biker clad in leather sipping a strong-looking coffee.

They ordered a few plates of pancakes to share for the table, and when the waitress had sent their somewhat strange group a mildly confused look, Mario had simply shrugged and said, “We’re on our way to a family reunion.”

“How often do you use that excuse?” Daisy asked bemusedly, shaking her head as she watched the waitress walk away with their order written on her pad. Mario shrugged lazily again.

“Hey, when it stops working, I’ll stop using it,” He replied, before glancing down at the child he was sat snuggly next to in the small booth, “Ow, Yoshi, watch the elbows, pal.”

“Sorry,” The little boy said without looking up, tongue poking out as he focused on his very important task. He held a crayon in his left hand and was currently occupied with colouring in the sheet that had been left on the table when they entered, clearly to entertain kids like him. It kept him relatively quiet as they all ate their breakfast contentedly. The pancakes were that special diner-type pancake, where they were somehow delicious even in their complete utter blandness.

“I can’t tell if I love these pancakes or hate them,” Daisy observed, staring down at her fork with a faintly perplexed frown. Luigi’s lips twitched into a slight smile at her expression.

“Yeah, that’s roadside diner pancakes for you,” He agreed.

“Kinda crappy breakfasts are like a staple of roadtrips,” Peach chimed in, nodding with a faintly nostalgic smile. Mario mock gasped.

“You mean to tell me your pretty little rich self travelled somewhere in a way other than flying business class?” He asked in exaggerated concern. Peach blinked at him with all the innocence of a demon standing on the doorstep of a church.

“First of all; you really think I’m pretty?” She asked sweetly, voice dripping with sarcasm even as Mario scoffed and rolled his eyes in response, “Secondly, it was _first_ class, if you’re going to make fun of me, at least get it right.”

She paused for a second, eyes dimming somewhat.

“And…we did do normal roadtrips too. Sometimes. My little sister and I loved them. It sometimes felt like the only time we got to be a normal family, y’know? Doing things like driving ourselves, without chauffeurs or…stuff. Besides, my mom always wanted us to know what it was like to live a normal life, too.”

There was silence for a beat.

“I’m feeling a little sympathy for you here, but equally it got cancelled out by the fact you can use the word ‘chauffeurs’ in a sentence and actually have it apply to you,” Daisy commented wryly, dodging the elbow to the gut that Peach sent her way with a snicker and almost accidentally pushing Rosalina out of the booth in the process.

Once they had finished their food and left a small tip (Daisy felt her respect for Mario go up marginally when he did so), they trudged back to the car, switching up the seating arrangements. This time it was Mario’s turn to drive, and Luigi’s face took on a briefly thoughtful look before he announced, “Uh, I want to sit in the middle row, actually.”

Everyone paused and looked at him in surprise, before Daisy somewhat uncertainly went, “Um, okay, I guess I can take the front if you-“

“No, you and Yoshi should be in the middle too, you can keep working on your handshake,” He disagreed, shaking his head, “Peach, uh, you should take the front.”

Several pairs of eyes turned to him in alarm, and Toad quickly hissed at him, “What are you doing?” to which Luigi just whispered back, “Trust me, I want them to learn to get along.”

In the end, regardless of any and all complaints or groans, Peach did end up riding shotgun. She actually did feel a spike of joy at being able to stretch her legs somewhat (she pointedly ignored the way she saw Mario’s eyes flicker over her currently bare legs as she did so before refocusing on the road ahead), but she wasn’t sure it was worth it when it turned out she would have to play the role of navigator, as well. She didn’t know if Luigi thought that by having her have to help Mario out, it would force them to cooperate and get along or something, but she wasn’t sure that was the case. Like it or not, though, when they were four hours down in the seven hour journey, Luigi had passed a map into her hands, pointed out where they currently were and where they had to get to, and left their fate in her hands.

Now, Peach would readily admit that she was something of a technology addict. Her phone and social media presence were both highly important to her – in fact being without it these past few days felt rather like being without a limb – and she was reliant on technology as a whole in virtually all aspects of her life, from alarm clocks, to coffee, to cleaning the floors; everything. She hated to admit it, but she had struggled to adjust to a more manual life in the past two weeks, not for the first time somewhat cursing the way her upbringing had made her so co-dependent on electronic assistance.

All of this was basically a roundabout way for saying that she hadn’t the slightest idea how to follow the map without a GPS. But she would be damned if she admitted this weakness in front of Mario, so she grit her teeth and she decided that she would get them to Pennsylvania if it killed her.

Behind her, Rosalina and Toad could be vaguely heard chatting in the back about their siblings – Toad had a twin sister who they would meet later today, as it turned out. In the middle row, with Yoshi in the middle seat, was the young boy in question, along with Daisy and Luigi. Yoshi was currently slumped to the side and leaning heavily on Daisy whilst snoring openly, sound asleep in a nap. Daisy had joined him in this slumber, offering no protests to being the temporary pillow of the little boy, her head leaning against the window and breath even as she slept. Luigi had shot this scene a vaguely fond smile before turning his attention out the window, head propped up on one hand whilst the other absently drummed on his thigh to the song lazily drifting out the radio.

It made for an oddly peaceful portrait, and Peach forced herself to ensure things with her and Mario stayed civil so as to not destroy this. He seemed to agree, for he, with some reluctance, thanked her every time she quietly handed over a direction. Eventually, though, after a further hour, where he had seemed to grow somewhat more tired even as his crankiness faded in the quiet now-afternoon air, his thanks became marginally more sincere. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, silence had fallen from the back row as Toad and Rosalina joined the other two in dream world. A slight pang of envy shot through Peach as she stifled a yawn, but she continued to direct without complaint.

Mario stifled his own yawn behind a hand before readjusting his grip on the wheel. He had been driving now for nearly three and a half hours, but he still glanced back at the slumbering group behind him and quietly said, “I think we should just keep going straight there if everyone stays out of it like this.”

Peach wondered for a moment if he was talking to her, but then Luigi had turned his head, revealing that he also was not asleep and had just had his face away from her as he watched the scenery pass.

“That might be a good idea,” He conceded softly, “But are you okay doing that? It’s still another four or so hours without traffic-“

“I’ll be fine,” Mario interjected firmly but still quietly, “I’ve done drives nearly double this before. You can catch some shuteye too, if you want, Weeg.”

It was oddly…considerate of him. Not only keeping quiet so as to not wake any of the teens and preteens, but also toughing out the long drive so that they could rest for as long as possible. And shouldering it so that his brother didn’t have to.

It was obvious that Mario loved the hell out of his brother. He might not say it, or even really show it, but looking between the lines, it was clear as day. Luigi could always mediate when Mario and herself got into fights, after all, and was the only one Mario seemed to always listen to. He was also the one that Mario spoke to most often, and he seemed to bring out a more emotional side in Mario, one that came with brotherly teasing and affection. It served to remind Peach that, their current vague animosity aside (they would get over it once he got over himself and apologised for treating her so helplessly, she was sure), she had no doubt that Mario was, in fact, a good person.

His younger brother shook his head.

“No, I’m not tired. I can take the map for a bit if you want to rest, Peach?” He offered the blonde, understanding shining in his eyes as Peach smothered another yawn. And she hesitated, almost taking him up on that offer, but…

For some reason, her eyes landed again on Mario. He would be the one driving for around six straight hours. If he could do that…she could look at a stupid map. She didn’t know if it was some strange sense of pity for him, or just a stubborn desire to prove to him that she was not weak, that she could do this one chore that they had asked her to do. If she got them to Pennsylvania accurately, then surely, SURELY, he would have to acknowledge her contribution and accept her.

She shouldn’t have cared so much about proving herself to him. But she did. Besides, giving directions to him was helping keep their conversation civil, if not quite friendly, and was the best they had gotten along all week.

She still hated him a little, though.

(She still had to force down a small surge of smug pleasure when a faint look of approval crossed his face when she denied Luigi’s assistance, though.

That could be her little secret.) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Essay season hit hard, and I've been caught up in the hurricane that is Supernatural once again (I've already posted one work for it and admittedly have like three others sitting in my drafts if anyone is interested, along with ones for kingdom hearts, criminal minds, doctor who, pokemon, fire emblem and a few others. Someone stop me, please.) 
> 
> This was a pretty dialogue heavy, low on plot, chapter, and I'm sorry about that and sorry if it disappointed, but I've been in a kind of low spot lately (lockdown is really finally starting to take its toll on me I'm afraid) and it might reflect in my writing. Apologies if it does!  
> Next one up will detail them arriving at Toad's, learning a little more about our favourite little mushroom's history with the brothers, and finally, FINALLY, Mario will start to get over himself and treat Peach like an actual person.  
> OH and if anyone is curious about the names:  
> Daisy Sarasa – Daisy’s kingdom in the Mario series is known as Sarasaland.  
> Peach Kelly – Kelly is the surname of the voice actress for Peach in virtually all recent games, Samantha Kelly (I thought having it be Toadstool would be a bit on the nose)  
> Rosalina Faye – One of her voice actors is Laura Faye Smith, and I just thought it sounded like the sort of chilled, peaceful sounding name that suited her.  
> Mario Gonzales Jumpman – Jumpman, their surname, comes from Mario’s original name in the very earliest games (Apparently their canonical surname is Mario, but I refuse to make them Mario Mario and Luigi Mario). Gonzales is what his creator joked his middle name would be, I believe.  
> Luigi Carlos Jumpman – Carlos is sometimes considered the Italian version of Charles, and the man who voices both Luigi and Mario is Charles Martinet.  
> But their full names won’t really crop up all that often. I just dropped them in as fun little titbits. Feel free to ignore them. 
> 
> As always, read, review and kudos if you please, and see you next time!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang arrives at the idyllic house of Toad's family. Peach and Mario find themselves in an unexpected truce.

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon by the time they were well into Pennsylvania, the car still chugging along on dangerously low levels of fuel. Rolling hills were visible in the distance as far as the eye could see, the sun’s glare reflecting off the window and causing Peach to have to squint slightly as she looked down at the map. Mario had pulled his visor down, and had somewhat grudgingly pulled on the red (or orange) sunglasses in the glove compartment. The four in the back were still dozing, the lucky pains in Peach’s backside, whilst Luigi split his time between observing the scenery and chattering on and off to either Mario or herself.

He really was an absolute sweetheart, she could see that now. Every bone in his body was earnest and helpful to the core. He contrasted so much with his brother that it was almost laughable, and he was definitely someone Peach could see becoming a good friend, given time. He was already seemingly on his way with Daisy, and from their chatter over the dinner table last night, with Rosalina too. Maybe this car journey would have put them on an equal playing field, though. They might not have much in common, but that had never stopped the social butterfly that was Peach before – after all, she and her two best friends were all as different as night and day, and yet their friendship worked unfalteringly. If she could make that happen…then she could befriend the younger, socially awkward Jumpman sibling. She was determined.

The aforementioned younger brother sat up straighter in his seat, accidentally jostling a sleeping Yoshi. He grimaced and spared a glance down at him, but the little boy simply scrunched his face in his sleep, sleeve covered hand reaching up to unconsciously scrub at his eyes in an admittedly adorable fashion, before he slumped back down against Daisy, slumbering on obliviously. This movement, however, did rouse Peach’s redhead friend, eyes blinking blearily as she straightened slightly, yawn escaping her. Luigi glanced over at her and pulled an apologetic face.

“Sorry,” He said, voice hushed slightly as he spoke over Yoshi’s head, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

She waved him off, shooting him a quick but tired reassuring grin.

“s’all good,” She said groggily, “How long did I sleep for, anyways?”

“About four and a half hours,” He replied, “All of you have, which is…actually pretty impressive.”

“All of us?” Her head craned back to look at the back seat, before swerving round again to look at the front, seeing Peach still wide awake and clutching the map.

“Almost all of us,” Peach said wryly, “Some of us have been on navigational duty since _someone_ decided he wanted to sit in the middle row.”

She sent a pointed look to Luigi, who had the decency to look sheepish. Daisy leaned forward in her seat, careful not to jostle the sleeping boy next to her, and tapped the top of Peach’s head encouragingly.

“Cheer up, Peachy,” She said, “We must be nearly there, huh?”

“Actually, yeah,” Luigi confirmed, “I recognise this place – we’re only about ten minutes away, I think.”

“Which means you can put the map away,” Mario chimed in dryly from the driver’s seat, “And stop your _truly_ exceptional navigational skills.”

Peach whirred round defensively, momentarily overshadowing her joy at being able to stop staring at that accursed bit of paper (which had frankly been giving her a massive headache and REALLY hurting her eyes; it’s not like her kidnappers had been considerate enough to grab her glasses when they snatched her from her apartment).

“Excuse me?” She spluttered indignantly, “Have I, or have I not, got us where we’re meant to be?”

He pitched up his voice into a shrill impression of her.

“’Oh, er, left up here I think? No, right? And then you want to take the second exit…or maybe the third?’”

He snickered at her dour expression.

“That sounds nothing like me,” She huffed, glowering at him. His lips twitched into a slightly amused smirk, raising his fingertips from the wheel briefly in mock surrender.

“Okay, okay. I’ll admit it, princess, you did not bad getting us here,” He conceded, and Peach blinked. There were several strange things about this interaction, namely the way he had given up so easily and actually paid her a _compliment_ (and it didn’t look like it caused him physical pain to do it?), and that’s without even mentioning the nickname. Which, to be fair, could be kind of a patronising nickname but she got the feeling that, at least in this case, it wasn’t actually coming from a negative place and was in fact a genuine one. Were they seriously about to start getting along, just like that, out of nowhere? Or was this just a one off because he was tired and his guard was down? He did seem to have less of a filter right now, laughing easier at his brother’s conversation in a way that made his face seem much kinder and much more like a guy Peach’s age, one elbow hanging out the open window, looking oddly relaxed. It was a pretty compelling picture, Peach would admit, and if she were a weaker willed person it might even send a funny flutter in her stomach. But she wasn’t, and she was still adamant that without an apology from him for his dismissive behaviour, she was not going to let him just slide into her good books.

Luigi looked pleased at the lack of an argument (to be fair, he had been dealing with them for the better part of two weeks nearly), leaning back into his seat with a small grin. Mario caught his eye in the mirror and rolled his eyes at him, which only made the younger brother’s smile widen. Daisy twisted round in her seat, reaching her arm awkwardly to poke Rosalina in the arm.

“Yo, Rosie. Look alive, we’re almost there.”

Their friend’s eyes wrinkled as she hummed in acknowledgement, batting at Daisy’s arm absently. She didn’t appear to have been sleeping particularly deeply, considering her level of awareness, and considering how fast her blue eyes opened, wincing as the sunlight shone directly into them before she could adjust to it. Daisy’s administrations also inadvertently woke up the slumbering teenage boy who was sat next to Rosalina, who also jumped into awareness remarkably quickly, turning his attention to the view outside the window.

“We’re almost home!” He cried eagerly, eyes bright as if he hadn’t been sound asleep not thirty seconds previous. Still, a smile tugged onto Peach’s lips at his obvious happiness. It was sweet to see the clearly homesick boy getting to see his family, and not for the first time, she wondered why he was even with the brothers if he had a home and family waiting for him. She often wondered why Yoshi was with them too, mind, but the answers had not been offered as of yet and she had not asked for them. It just felt, well…too personal, she supposed. The lives of these boys were complete mysteries to them; they knew some basic information like their ages and birthdays – but really, what did it matter that she knew Mario was a Taurus when she couldn’t even say where he came from, where he grew up, who his parents were?

It was a little infuriating at times, she could admit, and this was something she knew Daisy agreed with. Rosalina not so much, but then she had always been far better at minding her own business than them. But then, they all had their secrets, Peach supposed. Things they wanted to keep close to their chest, herself included.

They just happened to have a lot more of them than your average person.

By the time they had pulled into the street that apparently housed Toad’s home, Yoshi had been gently shaken awake, although his awareness was still somewhat iffy, eyes hanging half shut, chewing sleepily on the drawstring of his sweatshirt, ginger curls even messier than usual. But her eyes weren’t on the adorable nine year old boy right now. They were on the house they were approaching.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Daisy said out loud, voicing Peach’s opinion pretty perfectly. Luigi and Mario both cracked grins at this, while Toad shot her a mildly offended look.

Like the Kong’s house, the place they were approaching looked utterly out of place. Not because it looked peculiar this time, however, but because it thoroughly outshone the other places on the street.

It was a neat looking bungalow, whitewashed and gleaming in the sunlight proudly, rooftop lined with picturesque red slats. The windows were lined with lush flowerbeds sprouting plants of all different colours of the rainbow, from a vibrant yellow to a deep violet. The large white porch was similarly spotless, not a scuff in sight, with an elaborately designed porch swing swaying gently in the barely-there breeze. However, all of this truly paled in comparison to the garden.

The grass looked straight out of an infomercial, straight and orderly and looking as though it had been carefully cut with a ruler. Along the cobblestone path even more flowers sprung from the ground, orderly enough to look deliberately done but not so much as to take away from their natural beauty. Along the front of their lawn, lavish, thick deep green bushes grew up to waist height, interrupted only by a silvery metal gate that Peach just _knew_ would creak in exactly the right way to suit the aesthetic when pushed. Aside from this, one side of the garden held a real, running fountain, rustic and worn, base covered in ivy, while a large apple tree grew on the other side. A tall gate by the side of the house was latched, most likely leading to an equally stunning back garden.

They pulled up in front of the house carefully, and immediately Toad flung himself out the door with a loud cry of, “Grandpa!”

He threw open the gate without preamble and jumped over the flowers, running over the grass and trampling it in a move that seemed morally wrong to Peach considering its beauty, in the direction of a man that Peach had not even noticed was there until now.

Said man stood up slowly from where he had been hunched with a watering can, eyes - the same deep brown eyes as Toad - warm. His face was covered with lines, indicating his old age, but more than wrinkles, there was also creases clearly caused by smiles and laughter, and Peach immediately trusted this man. His head had a messy fuzz of grey curls, under a white and brown brimmed flat cap. Rounded black glasses perched on the end of his round nose, and he pushed them up with a short index finger, dusting his other hand on his purple waistcoat, which in Peach’s opinion went _perfectly_ with his white pants and the most adorable little bow tie. He held open his arms and allowed Toad to hurl himself into them delightedly, throwing his arms around the man who could only be his grandfather. The rest of them climbed out the car as well, Luigi pausing and tilting his head in the direction of Yoshi (who had seemed to have fallen back asleep) before heaving a sigh.

“I’m gonna need to carry him, aren’t I?” He asked wryly, not waiting for an answer to the mostly rhetorical question before he crouched down and reached over to unbuckle his seatbelt, manoeuvring Yoshi with some difficulty before managing to haul him out and tug him into his arms with a slight grunt of exertion. The little boy’s head slumped forward onto Luigi’s shoulder peacefully, burrowing into his arms contentedly. It was a pretty lovable scene, painting the two as a caring older brother with his sweet younger sibling – which kind of was the dynamic, she supposed. Despite his huff, Luigi couldn’t seem to fight back a fond smile, tightening his grip on Yoshi. Daisy spared the scene a glance, slight grin forming on her face.

“Okay,” She conceded, “That is bordering on adorable.”

His cheeks flushed slightly even as he continued up the path to greet Toad’s grandfather.

Said man had managed to pry Toad off him by the time they all reached him, gaze kind and welcoming.

“Hello, boys,” He greeted in a, surprisingly, somewhat posh sounding English accent, “Pleasure to see you again. Thank you, as ever, for bringing John back to visit.”

All three girls blinked in confusion, brains pausing.

“John?” Rosalina asked curiously, and now it was Toad’s turn to blush faintly.

“What, you didn’t actually think his name was Toad, did you?” Mario asked, grin splitting his face. The three of them shared looks, and Peach was glad to see she wasn’t the only one who seemed to think that well…yeah, she _had_ thought it. They hadn’t given any reason not to. Luigi hid his smile behind Yoshi’s curls.

“It’s a nickname,” He elaborated, taking pity on them, “His full name is John Toadsworth, but-“

“But I hate the name John,” The younger teen finished, frowning, “Only my grandpa insists on calling me that. And sometimes my sister. Which by the way, where is she?” He added as an afterthought, turning to face his elderly relative, trying and failing to conceal his eagerness to see his twin again. His grandpa didn’t seem fooled, if his smile was anything to go by.

“Still at school, unlike you, young man. She should be home any minute,” He replied. As if on cue, a sudden screech of excitement sounded from the pathway, and all of them spun on the spot to the source of it. Toad was already moving to meet her halfway though, the two meeting in an eager tangle of limbs.

The resemblance between Toad and his sister was striking – they shared the same round face, small nose and deep brown eyes, and the same bright smile shone on both their lips. Even their height seemed to be identical. The only way they differed – and quite drastically – was the hair, as hers was dyed a bright pink and tied into two long braids falling down her back. To match the hair, presumably, she wore a pink beanie not unlike Toad’s, and a dainty pink sundress with a short red denim jacket over it to combat the slight April breeze. She was laughing delightedly, tears brimming in her eyes as she clung to her brother.

“I missed you so much!” She cried; voice muffled into his shoulder as she blinked heavily. Toad sniffed loudly, pointedly keeping his face away from the group as he softly replied, “I missed you too, Joan.”

“Joan and John,” Repeated Daisy quietly enough that the twins wouldn’t hear, grinning slightly, “No wonder he prefers to be called Toad.”

Luigi’s lips quirked in response, arms still full of a slumbering Yoshi who showed no signs of waking despite the louder atmosphere.

“Yeah, uh, you’d think, but the thing is, we all just started nicknaming her, too, so now she’s-“

“Toadette,” Mario greeted with a slightly tired but genuine smile, “Good to see you, kid.”

Even as the three girls burst into quiet laughter at her nickname, the smaller girl looked up and let out a slight squeaking noise, face flooding with colour as she shoved her brother forcefully in front of her to hide behind.

“M-Mario!” She squawked, flapping her arms in distress, “H-hi!”

“She also has a _huge_ crush on Mario,” Luigi added, smiling sheepishly, “Since he was like sixteen.”

Mario looked slightly bemused as this tiny girl attempted to hide herself behind the equally small Toad, but seemed to take it in stride, indeed implying that he was well used to this behaviour. Their grandfather approached with surprising grace and steadiness for one so old, regarding the scene warmly and with obvious amusement before clearing his throat.

“Why don’t we continue this conversation over a cup of tea? Perhaps in the back garden?” He suggested, tone polite and measured. Peach perked up slightly at the mention of tea, even as Mario and Daisy’s smiles became slightly more fixed and Toad rolled his eyes slightly. Seems not everyone was as big a fan of tea as Peach was – ridiculous, in her opinion, as tea was one of the best drinks about, but whatever.

The group followed Mr Toadsworth around to the side gate and to the back yard, which was just as stunning as the front – a viewpoint Peach was not alone in thinking if Rosalina’s sharp sudden intake of breath beside her was anything to go by. As if he had been pre-prepared for them, a picturesque picnic blanket was already spread out, a basket sat on one corner just waiting to be opened. Toad fidgeted as he looked at it, and Toadsworth chuckled fondly.

“Oh, go on then, my boy. Tuck in, all of you. You must be peckish.”

Needing no further encouragement, the group approached the blanket and collapsed onto it, Toad obediently dishing out little triangle cut sandwiches and cans of soda, as well as little scones that Peach would bet her family’s fortune were homemade by the elderly Toadsworth himself. It was all delicious, and filled a gap that Peach hadn’t even realised was there, even without the tea he had mentioned. It was nice to be able to stretch her legs out in front of her, and despite herself she felt her eyes grow somewhat heavy from a long day of travelling. She stretched her arms high above her head with a contented hum, blinking deeply to wake herself up a little. A little to her right, little Yoshi had finally awoken, rubbing his eyes as he groggily nibbled on a ham sandwich upon Rosalina’s insistence, even though he looked as though he would rather be asleep again.

It was something about this garden, this place of peace, that lulled her into a sense of homeliness and comfort. She felt safe and relaxed, more so than she had in weeks. Perhaps it was the faint floral scent invading the air, or the quiet rustling of the plants in the weak breeze, or even the soft drone of conversation as the Toadsworth family caught up. Whatever it was, it made for a very serene setting that Peach was in no hurry to escape. The others were uncharacteristically quiet as well, equally engrossed in this enchanting place. Daisy had stretched herself out next to Peach, arms above her head to cushion it, face relaxed but eyes wide awake as she lazily observed the passing clouds. Rosalina was quietly fussing over Yoshi, and Luigi seemed perfectly content to allow her to take over from him as he sat crosslegged, hand’s fisted into the grass absently, listening to the quiet conversation. Mario was also sprawled out, arm over his eyes, seemingly only half awake.

Some few minutes passed, and Peach had still seen no opportunity for conversation, and as such she found herself absently lacing together daisies into a long chain. Yoshi, now more lively, leaned over to her, head tilted in curiosity.

“What’s that?” He asked inquisitively, nose crinkling in confusion. She smiled lightly at him.

“It’s a daisy chain,” She explained, “Look, you just poke a hole through the stem and put another daisy through that, and-“ She held it up to show the way they connected, and his eyes lit up.

“Daisy chain…just like Daisy!” He observed brightly, looking over at Peach’s redhead friend who lazily raised her head and grinned at him.

“That’s right, buddy. That’s where my name comes from.”

“Oh! Where does _your_ name come from, Peach? The fruit?” He asked curiously, peering up at her. She couldn’t help but smile again.

“Sorta. When I was born, see, the nurse that held me told my parents that I was the most stunning baby she’d ever seen – ‘Pretty as a peach’, she said. The name ended up sticking, and here we are,” She explained. Yoshi’s mouth moved in a wowed expression, before he scrambled up to his feet, seemingly done with the conversation and sick of sitting still, rushing off to collect more flowers for her to chain together. Luigi craned round to look at her, lips quirked slightly.

“Is that true?” He asked, looking as if he were trying not to laugh. She winked at him brightly.

“Not one bit, I’ve no clue why I’m called Peach. But I can’t have Yoshi thinking I’m boring, can I?”

He did laugh, now, and so did the others, Daisy reaching above her head to bat Peach’s leg absently.

“You’re so full of it, Peachy.”

Peach giggled softly, accepting the huge pile of daisies that Yoshi dumped in front of her before rushing off to collect more. When he returned a second time, Peach paused him to lightly place a flower crown atop his unruly curls.

“Aw, it suits you! You look adorable, Yosh,” She cooed, slightly surprised at herself as the font nickname slipped out unconsciously. But his face had lit up, either from that or from the new accessory he had, and he immediately sat down to assist her in the creation of crowns for everyone else. It took nearly twenty minutes, but between the two of them they managed, and all nine people present had a crown perched atop their heads – even Mario, who Peach had thought would protest it, had accepted it without complaint, further solidifying Peach’s theory that it was literally impossible to say no to Yoshi.

Toad reclined back with a contended sigh, his family’s conversation finally reaching a brief lull.

“It’s good to be home,” He mused happily, adjusting his own daisy crown and taking a swig from his bottle of water. Mario raised an eyebrow, glancing at Luigi who tentatively spoke up.

“Not that we don’t love having you with us, Toad, but you know you could stay here all the time. There’s nothing stopping you,” He pointed out. Toadette snorted in a most undignified way, exchanging amused yet resigned looks with her grandfather.

“He won’t,” She remarked knowingly. Peach frowned.

“How come?” She asked, somewhat cautious, sparing a glance at the two brothers, “If you have such a nice home here for you-“ Here, she traded smiles with Mr Toadsworth, “-And family, how come you go around with these guys?”

Toad hummed thoughtfully, looking up at the sky.

“I like to help them,” He replied, shrugging, “It’s a more exciting life. My parents always helped them out when they could, and when they were gone, I wanted to keep doing it. So, I did. Staying at home, and going to school, and stuff, it’s all great, but…this kind of life, it’s the kind of one nobody else can say they have.”

Peach sat back, frowning softly. She had never thought about that. She had spent the past two weeks thinking only of how awful their fortunes had been to end up this way; only thinking about the negatives, the constant moving from place to place, looking over their shoulders, having to rely on others for help. She had never really stopped to think about the positives that came with it – enough that someone like Toad would even choose this life, willingly. A never-ending freedom to go and do what you wish, meeting so many new people, forging close bonds with people in the deep danger you find yourself in…it wasn’t all bad, she supposed.

“Besides,” Toadette chimed in, “We trust the guys to look after my brother. We’ve known each other most of our lives, after all.”

Daisy sat up in interest, casting a small, undoubtedly curious, frown over at the younger girl.

“You have?” She enquired. Toadsworth let out a warm chuckle, a happy sound with a hint of a wheeze that indicated his age.

“Indeed, our family and the Jumpman family go back many years. I knew their parents when they were just children, you know. So, I know the boys well enough to know they’ll keep my John safe.”

Luigi’s cheeked pinkened slightly at the praise, head ducked down in embarrassment. Mario gave a somewhat wry smile back at the older gentleman.

“Way to remind everyone how old you’re getting, Mr T,” He teased mildly, face relaxed and eyes holding a somewhat impish glint that screamed of teenage mischief. It made him seem younger, more like a normal person somehow. Like someone Peach would actually want to hang out with willingly. It was certainly more handsome than the scowl he so frequently wore. But more than anything, it spoke lengths about the bond he held with Toad’s grandfather. He may have only been Toad and Toadette’s grandparent biologically, but considering their long history, she got the feeling that Mario and Luigi may as well have been his grandkids too.

She smiled slightly at the thought. It was nice to consider that possibility, that Mario and Luigi weren’t really alone in this world, even if their parents weren’t around anymore.

She leaned back again and closed her eyes, inhaling the fresh scent of nature, and allowed a small, serene smile to form on her lips.

And, for now, all was calm.

_

“Come on, Daisy, here, here! Please!”

Yoshi’s voice seemed far too loud in the otherwise quiet of the surrounding neighbourhood. The little boy was running around the front yard in the dim light of the evening, throwing a ball around with the others, sans Toad. The teenage boy in question was indoors with his family, catching up, while the rest of them had retreated outside to give them some space.

Peach wasn’t currently partaking in the impromptu ball game. She had joined in, but frankly, that sort of play just wasn’t for her anymore, so she had bowed out gracefully and retired to the porch swing to watch. She loved the swing anyway; the Toadsworth family had put several comfortable, plush cushions propped up on the seat of it, and it made just the perfect quiet creaking noise as she pushed it lightly back and forth, enjoying the gentle breeze on her face. She could honestly see herself dozing off on the spot, with the ambient background noise of her friends enjoying themselves.

Until she was interrupted, of course.

“Can I sit here?”

She started, looking up and, to her genuine surprise, meeting the deep blue eyes of Mario. She blinked at him, unsure if this was some kind of trick question or something, but she slowly nodded her head anyway, shuffling along to the very left side of the seat. He sat himself down at the very right, and while there was still a good foot between them in the middle, it was the closest proximity they’d been in, willingly…ever.

His forehead was glistening with sweat from the extreme workout that was keeping Yoshi occupied. His eyes were tired, his face holding a stark weariness that Peach knew if he were more awake, he would have been concealing. Over on the ground in the garden, Luigi spared a glance up at them, looking faintly pleased, as he paused for a breath, allowing Daisy to take control of Yoshi.

She remained silent, waiting for him to speak. He must have wanted to say something, after all, or else why would he be sitting here? He didn’t strike her as the sort to sit so close to someone, at least someone he didn’t know well, without a good reason. But he didn’t say anything for several minutes, and her social attitude could finally not stand the silence any longer.

“You must be tired from all the driving today, huh?” She ventured. It was the only main explanation she could have for his bowing out of the game, after all. Their swing moved back and forward slowly, and he hummed his agreement.

“Well, I’ve definitely felt more awake,” He said dryly, and she felt her lips twitch at the sarcasm, something she tried to fight before giving up and letting a small huff of laughter escape. He glanced at her out the corner of his eye, looking slightly pleased.

“I mean, I love the kid, but Yoshi’s energy enough on a normal day, never mind one where I drove for over six hours,” He went on warily, “I had to tap out.”

She nodded her understanding, feeling as though she were treading on a minefield trying not to set off an argument between them. Both Luigi and Rosalina were watching them (and trying to pretend that they weren’t, the snoops), and she really wanted to prove that they were capable of not bickering for once.

“Yeah, it had been…a long time since I played soccer. It’s really more Daisy’s thing than mine, I’ll let her take charge,” She replied, leaning back in the swing, “Besides, I’m pretty tired too.”

He glanced at her again and there was something almost sly in the look.

“From all your amazing navigation this afternoon?” He asked, and she was shocked to realise that he was _teasing_ her. He must have been a lot more tired than she thought, if his guard was down enough to be this friendly with her. It was an insult, kind of…but a well-natured one, and instead of setting her feathers ruffling it almost made her smile, even as she huffed in (almost entirely fabricated) offence.

“Again, I reiterate, I got us here, didn’t I?”

“With a few unplanned detours,” He pointed out, voice shrewd, even as his own cheeks twitched with the urge to smile. She rolled her eyes, folding her arms.

“I think unplanned detours are part of the road trip experience, personally,” She commented, and a small, sceptical laugh escaped his throat.

“Is that so?” He asked, snorting, and Peach found herself momentarily in a lot of trouble because so reclined and relaxed on the chair, hands stretched above his head and expression open as he lazily uttered those challenging words in such a drawling tone…It was _unfairly_ hot. She felt her heart do a funny dance in her chest even as she firmly looked away, refusing to entertain this line of thought. Not with HIM.

“It is so,” She confirmed firmly. He shrugged.

“If you say so,” He conceded, “Nah, I’m just messing. Honestly, I’ll admit it. You done good today, Peach. Navigating isn’t the easiest thing at the best of times.”

If her heart had previously done a dance, now it was doing a full on samba routine, because that was, she was sure, the first time he had ever addressed her by name. He had said her name when introducing her, or talking about her, but he had never called her it to her face. And she was loathe to admit just how much she liked the way his mouth formed the word.

_No_ , she instructed her mind firmly, _he was still awful to us at the start, and he still acted like you were lesser than the others. Until we get an apology, no feeling a single thing for this guy. I mean it._

As if on cue, he heaved a sigh, looking out at the sky and up at the few stars that were beginning to dot it.

“Look, I…I guess I owe you an apology,” He grudgingly stated, scratching the back of his neck somewhat awkwardly. Peach felt like a record suddenly coming to a screeching halt at the hands of a needle.

Wait…what?

She simply blinked at him, unsure what to say, and he sighed once more, shifting in his seat.

“I, uh…I wasn’t the nicest to you,” He admitted, “To any of you, but especially you. Truth is, I just totally underestimated you. I figured you would just be some rich damsel in distress and…well, I was wrong. You’re not so bad. You…you didn’t deserve the way I treated you, so…”

He finally forced himself to meet her gaze fleetingly.

“I’m sorry, okay?”

He looked away again as soon as the words were said, which Peach was infinitely grateful for because all she could do was gawk at him, opening and closing her mouth like a landed fish. Because for all she had said she wouldn’t forgive Mario without an apology…she had never actually expected one. Not in such firm, uncertain terms, anyhow. She had figured maybe she would get a vague, reluctant one, probably forced by Luigi. Maybe. Although, for all she knew, this was forced by Luigi. How would she know?

But…it did seem sincere enough. And he had acknowledged what he did wrong, which was more than more guys ever bothered to do.

She cleared her throat, looking steadily ahead.

“Well…thanks,” She said at last, “I suppose I’m sorry, too. For always trying to pick a fight.”

He snorted softly.

“I think we’ll probably still try and pick a fight pretty often, knowing us.”

She laughed softly, knowing that this was likely true. It was in both of their natures to clash frequently, after all, and while the apology was a nice start, it wouldn’t magically erase any and all animosity between them. But for now…

“Maybe. But at least now it won’t be so mean-spirited.”

She paused somewhat hopefully, before venturing.

“So…can we try again as friends, then? Like we all are with your brother?”

Mario glanced at her out the corner of his eye again, expression unreadable, before he rolled his eyes somewhat playfully in a show of mock resignation.

“I suppose so,” He uttered.

The two of them lapsed into silence, but it felt peaceful once more, not so loaded with tension. They watched quietly as Yoshi urged Daisy to climb the tree on a dare, and Daisy, literally unable to ever refuse a dare, do so, only to end up stuck, suspended 12 feet above the ground. They laughed together amicably as Rosalina scrambled toward the house to fetch a ladder to help her, and they laughed even harder when Luigi climbed up the tree to try and help before the ladder arrived and ended up just as stuck as Daisy was, getting chewed out by the redhead while they waited for Rosie to return, whilst Yoshi paced around the tree, distressed.

They could have got up to help, probably. But something about her was reluctant to break this peaceful truce they had found themselves in. And anyway, she was actually enjoying this time with him, to her surprise. She glanced over at him mid laugh, and saw his own eyes lit up with humour, teeth bared in a genuine grin. He met her eyes for a second, corner of his mouth quirking in acknowledgement before he returned his attention to calling jeers and jokes at his younger brother.

_Okay_ , she conceded to herself, _NOW, you can let yourself crush on him. Just a tiny bit._

Although admittedly, she thought as she watched Rosalina haul a ladder from the backyard, flocked by Toad and Toadette, she wasn’t sure she rated her chances of only crushing on him a little bit.

But again, that could be her little secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm AWFUL.   
> I know this has taken a super long time, but unfortunately I was working, in retail, full time, over the festive period. Add in exams and uni work and well...you can imagine I've been a little preoccupied.   
> I'm sorry for the wait again, thank you for sticking around and for all the nice reviews!   
> I've decided to start asking some questions at the end of my chapters to try and interact with readers more, so...  
> For the first one, simply, who is your favourite character so far? 
> 
> For me, funnily, it's become Peach. She's a lot of fun to write, and so she's managed to usurp Daisy's top position. Daisy and Luigi's relationship is still my favourite to write, though.


	9. Bonus - Twitter Profiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was bored one day, and had mega writers block, so I decided to create twitter profiles for the main Five (Yoshi isn't allowed to have one because he's too young. Toad chooses not to because he is an old soul at heart and doesn't really understand it) 
> 
> This is just a little fun bonus feature, I'll do them from time to time. To make up for me taking so long to update, in addition to the actual chapter (Chapter Eight), have this for fun. 
> 
> (Fun fact - I made all their avatars on Picrew, spending way too long doing so.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look for all the little details, such as the battery percentages, their birthdays, joint dates and the times at the top of the screen, to tell you a little more about them as characters.


End file.
